Former Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo claimed that Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, is afraid of Italian teams.
His remarks come as City prepares to meet Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League final 2022–2023 on Saturday, June 10, at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
In the 2009–2010 Champions League semifinals, Inter Milan defeated Guardiola’s Barcelona, winning 3-2 overall. Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Di Matteo, whose Chelsea team defeated Guardiola’s Barcelona 3-2 on the road in the 2011–2012 Champions League semifinal, led Chelsea to victory.
“Guardiola is more than a coach, he is more like a visionary, but he knows how competitive Italians are and fears us,” Di Matteo said
“Playing against him is very challenging. He puts quality into every system and he changes when you don’t expect it. Before the 2012 semi-final, we watched dozens of Barcelona’s games, trying to understand his weak points. The result was always the same: it was impossible they would have won.
“Inter’s Drogba is my Lukaku. I knew him when he was 19 at Chelsea and I was Villas Boas’ assistant. He’s a beast and he never stops and he seems fit now.”
Inter Milan last played in the Champions League final in the 2009–10 campaign, which ended with a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu on May 22.
The last time Manchester City played in a Champions League final was in the 2020–21 campaign, when they fell to Chelsea 1-0 on May 29 at the Estadio do Dragao. While Man City has yet to claim the championship, Inter has done so three times (1963–1964, 1964–1965, and 2009–2010).
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