Pep Guardiola previewed Manchester City's FA Cup third round tie with Huddersfield on Friday, offering an update on his injured players.
19.12.2023 - 22:03 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Manchester City's Champions League matchwinner Rodri has likened the Blues' Club World Cup win over Urawa Red Diamonds to their performance against Inter Milan in Istanbul - but has told his teammates they must improve in the final on Friday.
City won the Champions League for the first time in June, with Rodri smashing home in the second half to secure the European Cup and also qualify City for the Club World Cup. In the semi-final, City had to be patient against the Asian Champions League winners, eventually breaking down their narrow, low defence.
After breaking the deadlock, City ran out comfortable winners, although Rodri was keen to remember how difficult the first half was, and how his side had to be at their very best to progress to another major final - just like they had to do in the Champions League final.
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"We know how difficult it is to arrive to this moment where you have to win the Champions League. We did a very good game," he said.
"It wasn’t easy. We came here to win it. This is the mentality of the team. We found it very tough to go through. There were a lot of players very narrow and they defended very good.
"We know how narrow Japanese teams are and how tough it is to attack them. But we got a goal late in the last moment of the first half. We kept going and we never gave up."
Despite his praise, Rodri challenged his teammates to be better and quicker in moving the ball to break down clubs like Urawa. Fellow finalists Fluminense will offer a similar threat, with their manager dubbed as an 'anti-Guardiola'
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