Clicky
Sports, Football

Guardiola’s Man City finally crack the Champions League code


Bangladeshpost
Published : 05 May 2021 08:49 PM | Updated : 05 May 2021 08:50 PM

Reuters, Manchester

Manchester City finally cracked the Champions League code with an impressive 2-0 win over Paris Saint Germain on Tuesday, the 4-1 aggregate triumph earning them a first ever spot in the final of Europe's elite club competition.

After stumbling in the latter stages of the Champions League in his four previous campaigns with the club, Guardiola dropped his usual focus on the tasks ahead to reflect on banishing the one major question mark over his stewardship of the club.

"To reach the final of this competition is so difficult," he told reporters.

"It is the toughest one, the quality of the opponent and the composure you have to have to suffer the toughest moments."

Those moments had proved too tough for City in each of the past four seasons.

Last season's 3-1 quarter-final loss to a very beatable OlympiqueLyonnaise followed defeats to Tottenham, Liverpool and Monaco in the Champions League knockout stages.

"It remained in my head for weeks and it was painful, I cannot deny," Guardiola said recently.

Many had wondered whether the Spaniard's obsession with the competition had led him to overthink games or transmitted nerves to his players, but this season was different.

City have not sneaked into the final or battled through against the odds, they have marched to Istanbul by winning every knockout game -- home and away.

Indeed, they are unbeaten throughout their entire Champions League campaign this season, winning 11 games and drawing just once.

Throughout the Guardiola years, City have produced some glorious attacking football but also, especially in Europe, some shaky defensive displays.

This year, though, they have combined the flair in the final third with a rock solid defence that has conceded just four goals in the Champions League so far.

The addition of Ruben Dias, the Portugal central defender signed from Benfica, has proven to be a masterstroke.

The arrival of the 23-year-old has transformed City in the same way that Virgil van Dijk gave Liverpool the solidity they were lacking before their Champions League triumph two years ago.

Teenager Phil Foden, cautiously introduced into the side by Guardiola, has come of age during this campaign, effectively replacing Raheem Sterling in the attack.