Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has shared what he told his players before their recent 4-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League.
The Spaniard saw his side secure their place in next month’s Champions League final in Istanbul by putting in a blistering display against Carlo Ancelotti’s team at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
Once the game had ended, the City boss shared some details in his post-match press conference about what he asked his players before seeing them head out to the pitch.
Pep’s pre-match words
Speaking to the media (via Simon Bajkowski on Twitter) after the match, Guardiola said this about what he said to his players before Wednesday’s outing.
He said: “We spoke just before we went to the pitch and said do you want to play against Inter to not? Ask yourself. If you play 90 minutes playing thinking that you want to play against Inter you are going to beat Real Madrid. And they played in that spirit that we needed.”
To highlight how impressive the reigning Premier League champions were in midweek, they ended the game with more possession (59%) and more than double the number of shots on target that Real managed to have (16 vs 7).
In addition to that, their performance ultimately earned the Manchester club an overall team rating of 7.54/10 from SofaScore, which was significantly higher than the rating Ancelotti’s side were given (6.33/10).
Given the result and the manner in which his players achieved it, it’s safe to say that Guardiola’s words before the game worked well in terms of seeing the team get the outcome they wanted.
With the final against Inter on the horizon, the City boss will have to make sure he gets his players in the right frame of mind to take on the Italian club and walk away with the trophy in their hands.
