Pep Guardiola is dreaming of the one shot that could make Manchester City champions of Europe after admitting he never thought at the start of the season that this would be the year when they reached their first final.
During his playing days, the City manager was part of the Barcelona team who ended the club’s long wait to win their maiden European Cup, with victory in 1992 following campaigns in 1959 and 1986, when they were runners-up.
And rather than emulate them, Guardiola hopes City will join the ranks of teams who prevailed at the first time of asking on the biggest stage.
“When we won in ‘92, Barcelona lost before two times, some were unlucky, some of them, so unlucky,” Guardiola said. “Sometimes clubs need more finals to win the first one, in other clubs, it’s just one shot to be the champion. Hopefully, that will be the same.”
City were knocked out in the quarter-finals in the last three seasons but Guardiola said in autumn that he had a “good feeling” about his fifth European campaign with the club.
But he admitted they have surpassed his expectations, adding: “I never approach this competition like this, since I started at Barcelona. We are quite similar teams what we were in the past and when we were out. The margins are little details.
“This year it fell down on our side and a few years ago it was the opposite. It's not changed much. We are quite satisfied to get into the final but we know if you don’t have a huge desire to win it, a huge desire to know exactly what you have to do, then it will not be possible to win the game and win the Champions League.”
Guardiola has told his players there are still positions in his team against Chelsea on Saturday up for grabs. "The starting 11 is still not done, not yet," he said. City's top scorer Ilkay Gundogan, who sat out Sunday's 5-0 win over Everton with a minor knee problem, has pronounced himself fine and has not missed any training sessions.
Chelsea 1 City 3: player ratings
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CHELSEA RATINGS: Edouard Mendy, 5 - Nothing the keeper could do about Gundogan’s accurate opener but could perhaps have forced the issue more against Raheem Sterling as the England man picked his spot before firing against the post, allowing de Bruyne to tap home the rebound. AP -
Cesar Azpilicueta, 4 - A really poor day as the Spaniard was regularly beaten to the punch by a combination of Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne, while his poor positional play was exposed. Getty -
Kurt Zouma, 5 - Another Chelsea defender who couldn’t live with the verve of City’s front three and it was a harsh reality check for a defender who has grown into his role at Stamford Bridge. AFP -
Thiago Silva, 4 - The Brazilian has been superb since signing from Paris St Germain, but this was easily his worst display in a Chelsea shirt. The centre back failed to deny the space required by Gundogan to squeeze home the opener and failed to organise his defence during the visitors’ first-half blitz. AP -
Ben Chilwell, 5 - Arguably his side’s best defender on the day and he did get forward during fleeting moments on the attack, but the former Leicester man still had his fair share of tricky moments against Raheem Sterling. PA -
Mateo Kovacic, 4 - Twice gave possession away in dangerous areas and can count himself lucky that the ruthless City forwards didn’t punish him for it. Booked for a poor tackle on Kevin de Bruyne and replaced for the final 20 minutes or so by Kai Havertz. Getty -
N’Golo Kante, 3 - A horrible day at the office that saw him regularly chasing shadows as City ran the Chelsea midfield ragged. His poor pass sparked a slick City counter that resulted in the visitors’ third and his lack of awareness could have cost his side more. Replaced by Billy Gilmour just after the hour. AP -
Mason Mount, 6 - Found it tough to get a foothold in the game as City took control of all areas within the opening 15 minutes, but a bursting run and cross was rewarded with a good finish by substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi in the closing stages. AP -
Hakim Ziyech, 4 - A game that largely passed the Moroccan by, with his only meaningful moment being an indirect free kick on the edge of the box that was charged down by the City defence. Replaced by Callum Hudson-Odoi in the 64th minute and will be lucky to start the next game. Getty -
Christian Pulisic, 5 - Like Ziyech, the winger failed to really get into the game, although not through any real fault of his own. He failed to pull the trigger when he worked the ball well with Timo Werner in the first half, instead choosing to hold on and wasting the chance. AP -
Timo Werner, 5 - He’s been waiting months to get his chance in a more central role, but the German still looks like a player who is low on confidence and he didn’t ever look like troubling City goalkeeper Zack Steffen. Getty -
SUBS: Callum Hudson-Odoi (Ziyech, 64’), 6 - Busted a gut to get on the end of a low Mason Mount cross to slot home for 3-1. AFP -
Billy Gilmour (Kante, 64’), 5 - The game was long gone by the time the young Scot was introduced. Getty -
Kai Havertz (Kovacic, 77’) N/R - Never looked like inspiring a late comeback. AP -
MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Zack Steffen, 6 - A bizarre moment saw the Premier League debutant pick up a Rodri backpass early on, but that was the only incident of note in a quiet afternoon between the sticks. AP -
Joao Cancelo, 7 - Could have faced a tough time against the combination of Christian Pulisic and Ben Chilwell on the Chelsea left, but the Portugal international was excellent and didn’t give the pair a sniff. PA -
John Stones, 7 - The former Everton man is clearly enjoying his City renaissance and didn’t put a foot wrong against opponents who struggled for creative spark in the final third. Getty -
Ruben Dias, 7 - Had to be alert against a couple of Chelsea set pieces in the first half but it was an otherwise leisurely afternoon for the big-money signing from Benfica. AP -
Oleksandr Zinchenko, 7 - With City maintaining their width via Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling didn’t see a great deal of the Ukrainian going forward, but he had an easy time of it against Hakim Ziyech. Getty -
Rodri, 8 - An excellent afternoon’s work in which he quickly strangled any life out of a Chelsea midfield. The City No 16 stroked the ball across the pitch with ease and kept a lid on any glimmer of a Chelsea fightback. EPA -
Bernardo Silva, 7 - Had moments where he could have got his name on the scoresheet, only for some last-ditch Chelsea defending to prevent a more significant impact. Booked for a poor challenge on Pulisic late on. Getty -
Ilkay Gundogan, 8 - A fabulous turn and finish opened the scoring whilst making Thiago Silva look like an amateur and the German was the best player on the pitch in the first half. AFP -
Phil Foden, 8 - The youngster has been starved of minutes recently but he took his goal brilliantly as he glided the ball home with a first-time effort, and on another day he could have had a couple more to his name. Brought off for the final few minutes and replaced by Riyad Mahrez. EPA -
Raheem Sterling, 7 - Unfortunate not to score when he rounded Mendy and hit the post with a curling effort despite plenty of attention from Chelsea defenders, but the loose ball fell to de Bruyne, who tapped home. Getty -
Kevin de Bruyne, 8 - Playing in a less familiar role as the central focal point of a front three, the Belgian was the beneficiary of some good fortune when Sterling’s effort cannoned off the post, allowing for an easy tap-in, and his movement caused the home back four a whole host of problems. AP -
SUBS: Fernandinho (Gundogan, 75’), N/R – Slotted into midfield to help comfortably see the game out. AP -
Sergio Aguero (de Bruyne, 86’), N/R – Too late for him to add to his impressive ten goals against Chelsea. AP -
Riyad Mahrez (Foden, 86’), N/R – Unable to get into the game. AP
So Guardiola’s selection dilemmas are likely to revolve around whether to pick Oleksandr Zinchenko or Joao Cancelo at left-back and whether Rodri or Fernandinho should anchor the midfield.
But whereas Chelsea’s domestic season went down to the wire, City clinched the Premier League with three games to go. “It will be an advantage if we win, a disadvantage if we lose,” Guardiola mused. “I don’t know.”
Arguably City's best performance of the season came against Chelsea, with a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge in January, but they have lost twice to them since Thomas Tuchel took over.
Guardiola’s friendship with the German dates back to their time in the Bundesliga when they went out for dinner. “We talked football, football, football, football,” he recalled.
Guardiola had the better record in their meetings in their time in Germany and added: “Chelsea create problems for all the teams. It is difficult to stop them for the quality they have. The set-up of the team is wide in the sides, depth, and they are so close, the distances, the players in between, they are closer. They play really good in the pockets, incredibly good in behind.
“When they have the ball it’s difficult to control for the fact they are so close with the distances between players in the middle. The holding midfielders move perfectly between each other.
"At the same time, they make the pitch wide with the wing-backs and so deep. Congratulations on the two games they beat us, this is another competition, the final, and we will see what happens.”
