Pep Guardiola took a swipe at his critics after the Manchester City manager finally led his team to the Champions League final with a 2-0 win against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
Riyad Mahrez's two scores at the Etihad Stadium sealed a 4-1 aggregate success after the semi-final second leg.
City will make their first ever Champions League final appearance against Chelsea or Real Madrid in Istanbul on May 29.
It was a cathartic moment for City boss Guardiola, 50, who has been needled by claims that he won the Champions League with Barcelona only because of the genius of Lionel Messi.
The Argentine superstar was crucial to Barca's two Champions League triumphs under Guardiola's management, in 2009 and 2011.
Since leaving Barca in 2012, Guardiola had been unable to return to the Champions League final in three years with Bayern Munich and his first four seasons at City.
But he has taken City to the promised land at last and he was quick to underline how difficult the achievement was.
It's a competition that is so difficult and something in the stars is involved in that
"We fought together and we're in the final of the Champions League and those are nice words," Guardiola said.
"People believe it's easy to arrive in the final of the Champions League.
"Getting to the final now makes sense of what we have done in the past four or five years.
"Manchester United won a title because of John Terry's slip and also in the last minute against Bayern Munich. Real Madrid won a final against Atletico in the 93rd minute.
"It's a competition that is so difficult and something in the stars is involved in that."
Praising City's squad for thriving despite the demands of a gruelling fixture list, Guardiola paid tribute to his players.
"It is for all of us and the club," he said. "I'm incredibly proud and my first thoughts are with the players who didn't play today.
"They all deserved to play, everyone has made a contribution and now it is time to enjoy it.
"Paris win the league every year. They are a team built to win, they fought to the end. They are a huge team but we were so composed.
"They put a lot of players in the middle and we struggled a lot in the first half to high press and we changed at half-time.
"We recovered the ball better in the second half and we were much better in the way we played."
Attention turns to Premier League for Guardiola's men
City have already won the League Cup and with their Champions League final place booked, Guardiola will turn his attention to clinching the Premier League title with a win against Chelsea on Saturday.
"We have to win the league and we have two or three weeks to prepare for the final," he said.
Mahrez was City's key man in the tie as the Algerian's double added to the free-kick he scored to put City 2-1 up in the first leg.
He admitted City knew they had the victory after PSG started lashing out, culminating in Angel Di Maria's needless red card for a petulant stamp on Fernandinho.
"It was a very good game. We didn't start well but we got the goal and we were more comfortable after that," Mahrez said.
"They had to come at us. We are good on the counter. That's how the two goals came about.
"We could have scored more. They lost their nerve and started to kick us. After the red card it was good for us."
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Five hymns the crowds can join in
Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday
Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir
Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium
‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song
‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar
‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion
‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope
The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’
There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia
The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ
They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening
Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour Calendar 2018/19
July 29: OTA Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan
Sep 22-23: LA Convention Centre in Los Angeles, US
Nov 16-18: Carioca Arena Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Feb 7-9: Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Mar 9-10: Copper Box Arena in London, UK
Grand Slam Los Angeles results
Men:
56kg – Jorge Nakamura
62kg – Joao Gabriel de Sousa
69kg – Gianni Grippo
77kg – Caio Soares
85kg – Manuel Ribamar
94kg – Gustavo Batista
110kg – Erberth Santos
Women:
49kg – Mayssa Bastos
55kg – Nathalie Ribeiro
62kg – Gabrielle McComb
70kg – Thamara Silva
90kg – Gabrieli Pessanha
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 2
Rashford 28', Martial 72'
Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
The biog
Favourite Quote: “Real victories are those that protect human life, not those that result from its destruction emerge from its ashes,” by The late king Hussain of Jordan.
Favourite Hobby: Writing and cooking
Favourite Book: The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
MATCH INFO
Day 2 at Mount Maunganui
England 353
Stokes 91, Denly 74, Southee 4-88
New Zealand 144-4
Williamson 51, S Curran 2-28
