Pep Guardiola is ‘impressed’ by Inter and admits the Nerazzurri can beat his Manchester City side in the Champions League Final.
Inter will meet the Premier League champions in the Champions League Final in Istanbul on June 10.
It’s the first European Final for the Nerazzurri since 2009-10 when they went on to lift the Cup With the Big Ears with José Mourinho in charge.
“I’ve started watching some minutes of Inter, some situations and I am impressed,” Guardiola told Gazzetta.
“What they do and their body language is impressive. After watching them, I called some friends of mine in Italy to ask what they think. They all told me to be on alert because they are serious about it. I knew already, I had already understood by watching those few minutes and those situations.
“Of course, Inter can beat us, they’ve already won this trophy three times and we’ve never done it, but we want to play better so it won’t happen again,” continued the ex-Barcelona boss who has won the Champions League twice as a coach, losing the 2020-21 Final in charge of City.
Inter are only one of the three Serie A clubs to have reached a European Final this term. Mourinho’s Roma will face Sevilla in Europa League, while Fiorentina will meet West Ham in the Conference League Final.
“It’s not a coincidence that there are three [Italian] clubs in European Finals and others reached the semis,” argued Guardiola.
“I played in Italy, I know the mentality. Do not forget that Serie A was the best league in the world 20 years ago all players and coaches wanted to be there. Also, Italy won the World Cup four times. They still have this mentality, this is why a Final against an Italian club is tricky.”
Inter and Fiorentina will meet in the Coppa Italia Final at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday night in a game renamed ‘The Final of Finalists’ by Italian media.
“the ex-Barcelona boss who has won the Champions League once as a coach”..
FI, Pep won UCL twice as a coach, in 2009 and 2011