Winning Champions League is Man City’s dream

Pep Guardiola and Kevin De Bruyne admit winning the Champions League is both a dream and an obsession for Manchester City.

City are bidding to win the competition for the first time, and complete the treble, as they face Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul on Saturday.

Guardiola’s side have dominated the domestic scene in recent years but repeatedly fallen short chasing Europe’s top prize, the one the club covets most highly.

City playmaker De Bruyne and manager Guardiola both spoke at a pre-match press conference at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on Friday.

De Bruyne was asked first if he felt victory was a “dream” or an “obsession”.

The Belgium international said: “Maybe both. It depends who you ask. Every professional player wants to win the Champions League and be on top.

“If you can win the Champions League, you’ve reached one of the biggest things you can.”

Guardiola was in agreement when asked the same question.

The Catalan, who guided Barcelona to victory in the competition twice, has taken City into the knockout stages seven times but their runner-up finish in 2021 is the closest they have come to success.

“Absolutely it’s a dream,” he said. “To achieve things you have to have correct portion of obsession and desire, it’s a positive word, and willingness to try to do it, but of course it’s a dream.”