Guardiola reflects on City journey after reaching Champions League final

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City’s ultimate target is now in sight after guiding the club to their first Champions League final.

City produced a stunning performance against Paris St Germain on Tuesday evening to book their place in European club football’s showpiece event in Istanbul on May 29.

Riyad Mahrez scored in each half as City won 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium to complete a 4-1 aggregate triumph in their semi-final.

Reaching the final has been a chief aim of the club ever since their takeover by Sheikh Mansour began their accelerated ascent to the game’s top table in 2008.

Guardiola has overseen the past five years of that journey, winning seven other trophies along the way, and he feels the club’s trajectory is now clear for all to see.

“I think reaching the final of the Champions League helps us to make the bigger picture,” said the City manager, whose past success in the competition with Barcelona made him a target for the club years before he was finally appointed in 2016.

“What we have done in these four years is incredible, in terms of the Premier

League, Carabao Cup, FA Cups, every competition we have played, but reaching the final helps us to understand what we have done.

“Reaching the final in this competition is so difficult. It’s the toughest because of quality of opponents, the composure you have to have, the suffering in toughest moments.

“We did it, we made an incredible Champions League season. We deserve to be there and we are going to play the final.”

PSG were weakened by the absence of star striker Kylian Mbappe from their starting line-up due to injury but still hit City with a barrage of pressure as they looked to overturn their first-leg deficit.

Yet City withstood everything on a pitch unexpectedly covered in ice after a heavy hailstorm before kickoff. They snatched the lead through Mahrez on 11 minutes after a quick break initiated by Ederson and then doubled their advantage through the same player – grabbing his third goal of the tie – just after the hour.

PSG then crumbled, with Angel Di Maria sent off and three other players booked in a petulant, ill-disciplined finale.