Pep Guardiola says Manchester City are desperate to follow up the club’s first European trophy for over 50 years with another as they take on Sevilla in Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup final at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens, Greece.
The Spaniard, who is now entering his eighth campaign with the Manchester club, spoke ahead of the match about the magnitude of the occasion and praised the consistency and winning culture of Sevilla, who will be playing in their seventh UEFA Super Cup final thanks to their successes in the UEFA Cup and Europa League, winning the competition a record seven times.
Fighting for a new title! #UEFASuperCup 🏆🔜 pic.twitter.com/hVyQMdZmww
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 15, 2023
“First of all, to be here in this press conference, to play tomorrow, you have to do extraordinary things, to win a Champions League or a Europa League, and I have to say this is not easy. Maybe for Sevilla it is easier because they have won a lot of Europa Leagues,” Guardiola joked.
“[Sevilla] have a special character, the resilience in the bad moments. To play the finals is not necessarily to play at the top level always. They have something in their DNA that make this team and this club different.
“You cannot imagine how incredibly happy we are to be here to play this game because you have to win a Champions League. This opportunity we want to take because who knows when we are going to come back here to play this tournament.
“I’m pretty sure the team is happy, is relaxed, satisfied, all the adjectives to describe what an honour it is to play in this competition, and yes, we will go for it.”
Sevilla’s wealth of experience in this final has been largely negative, holding the unwanted record of the most Super Cup defeats, with five. Their only victory came in their first appearance, thrashing Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona 3-0 in the 2006 final.
City will be the fifth different Premier League team to play in the competition, and can become the third to win it, after Chelsea and Liverpool.
PL clubs' results in UEFA Super Cup
| Year | Club | Comp. won* | Opp. | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Arsenal | UCWC | AC Milan | Lost 2-0 |
| 1998 | Chelsea | UCWC | Real Madrid | Won 1-0 |
| 1999 | Man Utd | UCL | Lazio | Lost 1-0 |
| 2001 | Liverpool | UEL | Bayern Munich | Won 3-2 |
| 2005 | Liverpool | UCL | CSKA Moscow | Won 3-1 |
| 2008 | Man Utd | UCL | Zenit St Peterburg | Lost 2-1 |
| 2012 | Chelsea | UCL | Atletico Madrid | Lost 4-1 |
| 2013 | Chelsea | UEL | Bayern Munich | 2-2 (lost on pens) |
| 2017 | Man Utd | UEL | Real Madrid | Lost 2-1 |
| 2019 | Liverpool v Chelsea |
UCL, UEL | - | 2-2 (Liverpool won on pens) |
| 2021 | Chelsea | UCL | Villarreal | 1-1 (won on pens) |
*UCWC: UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UCL: UEFA Champions League, UEL: UEFA Europa League
Man City have faced Sevilla in UEFA competition on four previous occasions, most recently in last season’s UEFA Champions League group stage when City won 4-0 in Spain and 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
Prior to those encounters the two sides met during the group stage of the 2015/16 Champions League campaign, with Manuel Pellegrini’s overseeing victories in both the home and away ties, 2-1 and 3-1 respectively.
Guardiola’s side have seen their chances boosted for Wednesday's match by the inclusion of John Stones in their travelling squad. The defender had been absent from the matchday squad for last Friday's 3-0 victory at Burnley due to a hip injury.
One noticeable absentee from the travelling squad, however, is City captain Kevin De Bruyne, who suffered a hamstring injury against Burnley, with Guardiola confirming the midfielder faces a lengthy absence.
See: Guardiola: De Bruyne will be out for months with 'serious injury'
Man City’s 22-man squad for UEFA Super Cup final: Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Mateo Kovacic, Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish, Aymeric Laporte, Rodrigo, Stefan Ortega Moreno, Julian Alvarez, Sergio Gomez, Josko Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji, Ederson, Maximo Perrone, Scott Carson, Phil Foden, Oscar Bobb, Cole Palmer, Rico Lewis, James McAtee.