Gareth Bale has claimed that Manchester City have been the best team in world football for the past five years.
The Citizens are on the verge of winning the treble if they secure a victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League final.
Looking ahead to this evening’s game in Istanbul, one former player, who knows exactly what it takes to be successful in Europe, has dropped a big claim on Pep Guardiola’s side.
Bale says City have been the best team in recent years
Speaking to BT Sport, Bale said this about City and their upcoming showdown against Inter.
He said: “For City, it is big pressure, this is what they’ve wanted for so long, they’ve spent all this money.
“If you put it on paper they are probably the best team of the last five years in just the way they play football but football is not won by being beautiful and playing proper football, it’s won by grinding out a result and in the final it’s always tense, it’s always hard.”
Given the domestic domination that the Citizens have enjoyed for the majority of Guardiola’s time at the club, this shows why Bale has claimed they have been the best team in recent years.
Across their 12 Champions League games that got them to the final, the Manchester club have won seven and drawn five, scoring 31 goals and conceding five along the way, beating the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Having also won the Premier League and FA Cup in recent weeks, this highlights the winning form City are in and the confidence the players will have heading into tonight’s final.
However, with Inter managing to keep eight clean sheets across their 12 European matches in this competition, it’s clear that the Manchester club will have a tough test on their hands if they want to win the Champions League.
Moving forward, if City do end up winning the trophy tonight and securing the treble, there will be no doubts that they are the best team in the world at club level.
