Guardiola: 'Winning the Champions League this season will be easier'
On the way to winning the historic treble last season, Man City defeated Inter Milan 1-0 in the final thanks to Rodri's only goal to win the Champions League for the first time. Man City is also the 10th unbeaten club in the journey to win the European Cup / Champions League, after AC Milan, Ajax, Liverpool, Man Utd (twice), Bayern, Barca, Inter Milan, Marseille and Red Star Belgrade.
At Etihad Stadium today, Man City will begin their journey to defend their continental championship with a match against Red Star Belgrade. During the pre-match press conference, when asked about Man City's chances of defending the title, Guardiola replied: "Everything will get easier. The most difficult thing is the first championship. Tomorrow is the first step of the journey." new road, and we will try to win the first three points. We understand that just one title is nothing special, but the team is still very proud."
Man City CEO Ferran Soriano said the whole team is more comfortable after winning the Champions League, quenching their thirst for many years under the Arab owners. But Guardiola does not agree with that point of view. "The important thing is that the players don't feel relaxed," he said. "It's good that the board of directors, the president, the CEO feel comfortable, because they're not on the field."
Red Star Belgrade also played successfully last season. Despite the turmoil on the coaching bench, when former Inter Milan midfielder Dejan Stankovic resigned in August 2022 and was replaced by Milos Milojevic, Red Star was still crowned in the 34th Serbian National Championship with an unprecedented record. defeated and only dropped 14 points. This season, they continued to change coaches by appointing Israeli coach Barak Bakhar.
Through analysis, Guardiola highly appreciated Red Star, stating that the opponent plays fiercely, often uses a 5-3-2 system, defends in a one-on-one style and is very strong in transition situations with players. Speedy attacking player. The Spanish coach also revealed that trio Jack Grealish, John Stones and Mateo Kovacic continue to sit out due to injury, after missing the 3-1 win at West Ham in round five of the Premier League last weekend.
Despite speculation that he could move to Bayern in the summer of 2023, Kyle Walker still stays at Man City and has just renewed until 2025 with a one-year activation option. "Why do I want to leave this great club?" the English defender said while sitting next to Guardiola at the press conference. "I want to stay at Man City as long as possible. Why would I leave a club that has won the Premier League three times in a row, the Champions League, and just won the treble?".
Similar to the Spanish teacher, Walker affirmed that Man City desires to defend the Champions League title. "Guardiola drew a diagram at the beginning of the season and said we start from the bottom of the mountain and have to climb again," the 33-year-old defender added. "We've won it all, but continuing to win trophies is what separates a good team from a great team."
