Sergio Busquets believes Inter strikers can cause trouble to Manchester City defenders in the Champions League Final and warns Luis Enrique about Napoli: ‘Luciano Spalletti has raised the bar.’
The outgoing Barcelona midfielder spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport about the upcoming Champions League Final between the Nerazzurri and Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola will have a second chance to lift the Cup With the Big Ears with the Citizens after losing the 2021 Final against Chelsea.
“Guardiola took my hand and made me cross this huge road that separates Tercera from the Champions League,” said Busquets.
“He trusted me, I listened and followed him. He changed my life. I had already worked with him in Barça B, he was already the best in the World, but nobody knew.
“He’s still the best because he improves everything he touches,” continued the midfielder.
“He won in Spain, Germany and England and has always left a mark. He has cached strong sides, but they’ve always developed with him, gaining something more. Everyone plays as he wants. He’s tried many new things in the last 15 years, his evolution is continuous. He has adapted to new cultures and ideas. This season he invented a new role for Stones. He found new solutions for a centre forward after it hadn’t worked out with Ibrahimovic at Barcelona.”
So, how can Inter beat the Premier League champions in Istanbul on June 10?
“Everyone thinks City will win, but beware of Inter,” noted Busquets.
“First of all, anything can happen in a Final and it’s not a cliché. It’s all complicated when you play against a team like Inter, with a clear identity, five defenders, three midfielders, and two strikers. Inter defend well and strikers help the team.
“We’ve faced them twice this season and we struggled. Perhaps they don’t create many chances, but they’ll play with two strikers against two Man City defenders and I think they can hurt City in this situation. Anything can happen.”
Busquets has won the Champions League three times, twice with Guardiola in charge and once with Luis Enrique, beating Juventus in the 2014 Final in Berlin. The Spanish tactician is now the leading candidate to replace Spalletti at Napoli.
“Napoli have raised the bar with Spalletti,” argued Busquets.
“They won Serie A and reached the Champions League quarter-finals, it’s not easy to do better.”
The 34-year-old also spoke about another coach he knows very well, José Mourinho. He has faced the Special One many times as an opponent and Mourinho’s Roma will meet Sevilla in the Europa League Final tomorrow, Wednesday, May 31.
“Mourinho is always there. Roma suffered with Leverkusen, but they have an idea. Defending is easier than attacking, but you have to convince every player to make an enormous sacrifice. It’s not easy to track back at all times, to suffer together and remain united. It’s not so easy to persuade Samuel Eto’o to play as a left-back, you must have clear ideas and personality.”
Busquets will leave Barcelona at the end of the season and is not planning to play in the Old Continent again.
“I’ll play outside Europe but I still don’t know where. I can’t think of facing Barcelona as an opponent for important targets. It would be too difficult and I don’t want to do it.”