In his seven years at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has helped transform the club into a fearsome competition machine, dominating the world's richest league, but with one lack: it has not won a European Cup. He has placed his team very close. He lost a final against Chelsea in 2021, and last year, at the Bernabeu, he was just minutes away from playing another. Until two goals from Rodrygo in less than 90 seconds sent that semifinal to extra time, which ended up depositing Real Madrid at the Saint Denis stadium against Liverpool. Wednesday's winner awaits Inter in the final.
And here is City again, one step away from the final in Istanbul, tonight's match in their stadium. And again with Madrid in front (21.00, Movistar) for the second leg of a tie that in its first round remained at 1-1. Guardiola wanted to give courage to see himself so close again: "It's a dream to be here. Nothing guarantees that we will be here in the future," he said. "We've won every title except this one, and we want it with all our might."
The size of the desire of the most successful club-state corresponds quite accurately to the dimension of the rival that stands in its way. Madrid has also been quite often in this penultimate step: 11 times in the last 13 years, in which it has won five Orejonas, a record that only has as a reference to evoke that first glorious era of the five in a row with Di Stéfano and company.
The legacy of this era is enormous, as Luka Modric summed up yesterday: "We have played many times this type of matches: semifinals, finals ... What I see in the companions is confidence and tranquility, full faith in us, in our character, in our qualities," he said. "We're close to something historic, impressive."
On the other side, Guardiola tried to reduce anxiety: "It doesn't matter what happens in the tie. Our legacy is already exceptional," he said. "The legacy is that they've been fucking for many years. And the legacy is that people will remember that we scored a lot of goals, that we scored few... and that we won many titles. I've had a great time. It's like a good book. And maybe in Europe people don't see any of this, but here they have had a great time. This is a legacy."
Ancelotti seemed to relish the opportunity: "We are close this year to doing something important. There is very little left. We are very excited, very motivated. It's very complicated, but I think the difficulties help us get the best out of us." Yesterday he was still in a territory that he is able to enjoy: "Today I am very calm, very excited and with a lot of faith. Tomorrow... I know tomorrow very well [for today]. It will be that of worry, of bad thought, that will mark you Haaland, De Bruyne from the outside ... But then also that Vinicius makes a good dribble, that Karim [Benzema] is going to be smart in the area..." And above all worries, an extraordinary confidence in the "courage" and "character" of his players: "If they have to score, let them score soon. So we have more time to recover."
Both coaches will face the match with almost all the players ready. In the City only the injured Aké is missing, and Madrid recovers Militão, who did not play the first leg due to sanction. What in any circumstance would be good news for Ancelotti is now a small headache for the coach after the superb match of Rüdiger and Alaba against Haaland in the first leg. The line-up is perhaps the only doubt that Madrid felt.
Guardiola has prepared some modifications, although he wanted to reassure those who fear his occurrences on the big nights: "It's nothing special. I'm not going to overthink. Don't worry," he said. "My only wish is to be ourselves."
Ancelotti also left his: "What I want is a team capable of reading situations well. Having moments of suffering, where you have to endure, is quite normal. Read these moments well, and read well when the opponent is in difficulty".
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