Pep Guardiola makes surprising claim on 2021 Champions League final team selection

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Pep Guardiola makes surprising claim on 2021 Champions League final team selection

Pep Guardiola says he would change his Manchester City lineup for the 2021 Champions League final defeat to Chelsea if given the chance.

Fernandinho and Rodri were both left on the bench as City played with Ilkay Gundogan as their lone holding midfielder, while Kevin De Bruyne was deployed in a false nine role before suffering a nasty head injury.

Attackers Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero both made substitute appearances but the Cityzens couldn't force an equaliser after Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the game to earn Chelsea their second Champions League crown.

The Premier League and FA Cup champions have the chance to rectify that blot on their record on Saturday against Inter, having dismantled Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the knockout stages on the way to Istanbul's final.

City are heavy favourites like they were two years ago and Guardiola admits he would switch up his chosen XI if given the chance to relive the occasion in Porto.

He said: "It was a gameplan like it will be on Saturday. If I tell you privately the reason why I took the decision in that moment you could say it was right but it is simple; if I lose, I am wrong, if I win I am right. You have to accept that in this business.

"It was a tight game and in many things we were better than them but we lost. Would I do something different now? Maybe, but that doesn't count."

When asked if the mood around the City camp is different this time around, he added: "One week ago we won the FA Cup. In that moment we were just preparing a final, we'd lost two times against Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea and had some doubts.

"It is not the same but they play five in the back, Chelsea and Inter, the approach was defensive too but of course Chelsea also had incredibly good patterns to punish us. It is not similar but there are some things. Hopefully we can attack a little bit better."