Pep Guardiola Reveals Message From Sir Alex Ferguson Prior To Champions League Final
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed he received a message from Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson on the eve of the UEFA Champions League final.
The Citizens became the second side in English football history to win the treble after securing their first European Cup on Saturday night, beating Inter 1-0 in the final.
The only other team to achieve such a feat were Ferguson’s Man Utd back in 1999, winning the Premier League and FA Cup before beating Bayern Munich with two late goals in a stunning Champions League final.
Man Utd had the chance to scupper their noisy neighbours’ treble dreams in last week’s FA Cup final, but they fell to a 2-1 defeat at Wembley. Ilkay Gundogan’s opener – the fastest goal in FA Cup final history – was cancelled out by a penalty from Bruno Fernandes, but the German midfielder managed to ice the game with another goal in the second half.
Man City weren’t at their imperious best against Inter in Istanbul and had to wait until the 68th minute to break the deadlock. Rodri’s fierce shot from just inside the 18-yard box beat Andre Onana at his near post and they managed to ride out a late onslaught of Nerazzurri chances.
Speaking to the press post-match, Guardiola admitted that Ferguson had been in touch prior to kick-off at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
“It’s an honour for me to be alongside Sir Alex Ferguson. I got a message from him this morning. It touched me. It was nice,” Guardiola said.
Ferguson was beaten twice in his only two meetings with Guardiola, with the Catalan’s Barcelona side ousting Man Utd in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals.
Man City plus two further Community Shields, making him by far and away the club’s most successful manager.
