It is fair to assume that Pep Guardiola does not believe a word he said. The Manchester City manager was quite right, on the eve of yet another meeting with Real Madrid, that the outcome would not impact his legacy. That was “impeccable,” he said.
His argument would be that he is on the verge of a fifth Premier League title in six years. He has won countless domestic cups, and shattered a wide and rich array of records. He has transformed not just City into a sleek, state of the art team, but altered many of the received wisdoms of English soccer. There has been an undeniable, and possibly measurable, Guardiola effect.
Impressive, though, is not the same as impeccable. Guardiola was hired with the expectation that he would deliver a Champions League. More importantly, he would have arrived with the personal ambition of doing so. He has not won the biggest trophy in club soccer for more than a decade. By his own standards, that is far too long.
This season brings a golden opportunity. City merely has to win at home — a place where it has not lost a Champions League game since 2018 — to qualify for a second final in three years. Once there, it would be overwhelming favorite against Inter Milan, the surprise qualifier from the other side of the draw. It is so close Guardiola can almost taste it.
The only slight hitch — just a small thing, really, a minor inconvenience — is that City finds the road blocked by Real Madrid, a club that regards this tournament as its private fiefdom, and a team that has a proven ability to find a way to succeed no matter how daunting the odds or unfavourable the circumstance.Stan