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Manchester City was perfectly prepared with the right mix of calmness and tension for its Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid, manager Pep Guardiola said on Wednesday.
The Premier League champion dismantled Real Madrid 4-0 with a ruthless display to secure a 5-1 aggregate win and reach the final against Inter Milan when it will bid to win European club football’s most prestigious trophy for the first time.
It was sweet revenge for a painful semifinal loss to Real 12 months ago.
“I had the feeling these last days that we had a mix of calm and tension to play these type of games,” Guardiola told reporters.
“And after 10 or 15 minutes, I had the feeling that all the pain that we had, what happened last season . . . it was really tough, losing the way we lost and I think in the moment we had to swallow poison.”
Real knocked City out 12 months ago 6-5 on aggregate after an extraordinary late comeback.
“In sport, obviously you have another chance and when the draw was Madrid, I said, ‘Yeah, I want it’,” Guardiola said.
Bernardo Silva netted a first-half double to put City in control and after Erling Haaland failed to convert two gilt-edged chances, Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez completed the rout.
Real Madrid arrived with history on its side as title-holder and record 14-times European champions.
But City, buoyed by an unbeaten 23-game run in all competitions, had not lost in 26 Champions League matches at the Etihad Stadium, which was a writhing sea of sky blue for the visit of the Spanish giants.
City played the 2021 semifinal against Paris St Germain in Manchester with no fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the players stayed on the pitch long after the final whistle to celebrate, with Haaland wearing a Norwegian flag draped around his shoulders.
“(Tonight was) much, much better,” Guardiola said. “I felt, I don’t know why, you smelled that the team was ready to compete at the level that they competed today.”
City is three wins away from a treble as it plays Manchester United in the FA Cup final on June 3 and could win the Premier League as early as Saturday.
“We’re closer,” Guardiola said. “This season is really really good, what we’ve really done already. The pleasure, the joy, how much we have fun this season again and again. We make happy our fans, all around the world watching us, they see a good team playing. This is the biggest compliment.”
Guardiola said the players, staff and families would gather for a team breakfast before enjoying a day off on Thursday ahead of its preparations for the final push to clinch the Premier League title.
Victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul on June 10 would secure the one trophy Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour has craved since buying City in 2008, having lost to Chelsea two years ago in its only previous appearance in the final.
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