“We played with the pain of taking last year’s elimination for a whole year”

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola assured after knocking out Real Madrid that they played this Wednesday with “the pain of having been out for a whole year with last year’s elimination.”

“I think the pain we had last year was there. The energy we’ve had for a year to be criticized has been there. Today they got the reward they deserve. We played with the pain of being out for an entire year last year. I felt like we got that very gift and today it came true. We’ve removed everything. Sport always gives you a second chance, it always gives you revenge,” Guardiola said at a press conference.

The Spanish coach is playing his fourth Champions League final, his second with City, and explained this Wednesday that what makes a team great is competing for the biggest titles every year.

“I don’t have such high expectations that I think I will always win the Champions League. The times I’ve lost, is it because the others were bad? The rivals are playing too. They say City played badly at the Bernabéu, and why don’t we say Madrid played well You can’t win all the time The best thing is to take the team to the final rounds and if you are there often and play finals you will win it one day.

“I’m culé and Barcelona lost three or four finals before they won the first one. And because we’re City, are we going to win it every year? What makes you great is that you’re there every year. In recent years we’ve behaved like a big team. I can’t judge my team by heads or tails.”

As for the final, Guardiola stated that now people are going to say they are “favourites” and this is not good, and if they lose the final it will be “bad luck”.

“The pleasure of being there is incalculable. Of course Inter can beat us, but no one can take away how we played.”

When asked if this marked the end of the cycle for Real Madrid, Guardiola stated that he has “concluded nothing” and that he will not be the one to judge Los Blancos.