By Frank Dalleres
Pep Guardiola hopes Manchester City’s treble-clinching Champions League victory will see his team get the credit they deserve for an era of extraordinary success.
City edged out Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul on Saturday night to become kings of Europe for the first time and only the second English team to complete the continental treble.
It took their tally of trophies under Guardiola to 12 in the last six seasons, an achievement for which the Spaniard believes has not had adequate recognition.
“Especially this season, the entire world has said if we don’t win the Champions League we will not be complete, it will not be enough,” he said.
“Winning these five Premier Leagues and arriving in three semi-finals, and two finals, is exceptional, but everyone says, ‘no, you have to win’.
“But winning the Champions League every season is difficult unless you are Real Madrid. The other ones sometimes arrive and do it.
“Not just for me, for the club, for our CEO and players – we had everything but not the Champions League, as if the Premier League is nothing.
“So I like this competition for the fact we won it, to be part of history. The players know they will be remembered for the rest of their lives. But now give credit for the five Premier Leagues we won in six years.
“It is important because people now forget about it and focus on creating a museum to put all our trophies in, because what we have done in the last years is unbelievable, not just the Champions League, but many titles.”
City are set to parade their trophies through Manchester on an open-top bus on Monday and Kevin De Bruyne insists deeper reflection on their achievements can wait.
“That’s not something I’m really thinking about right now. The season is so long we should just enjoy this moment,” said De Bruyne, who suffered a hamstring injury in the final.
“We’ve had subdued parties up until now, but now we can really enjoy it for a couple of days, as we should. We’ve not lost one game in the Champions League this season so I think we deserve it.”
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