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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Simon Mullock

Pep Guardiola had chat about future with Man City chairman moments after winning the treble

Pep Guardiola admitted that chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak had already spoken to him about his future at Manchester City.

“Please don’t talk to me about going again," he joked. "My chairman told me the Champions League final is in London next year - and I can’t tell you what I said to him! I am a good manager - thank you Pep - but I can’t win a treble every single year.

“Maybe people will now give us credit for winning five Premier Leagues. Maybe we can now build a museum to show off all of our trophies.”

Ilkay Gundogan became the first City captain to lift the European Cup - and it could be his last act for the club.

Gundogan is out of contract and attracting interest from Barcelona. He said: “It’s unbelievable. It’s so difficult to put into words. Today we made history.

“It was probably a 50-50 game. We feel very fortunate it was for us. We knew everyone was talking about the treble. The pressure was there but this team is built to handle the pressure in the best possible way.”

Midfielder Jack Grealish was also in a blue heaven. He said: “This is what you work your whole life for. I'm so happy. I was awful but I don't care. To win the treble with this group of players is so special.

“Everyone who knows me knows how much I love football and this is what I have worked for my whole life. Seeing my family in the crowd makes me so emotional.

“I just said to the manager 'I want to thank you'. He has put so much faith in me. He is a genius."

Rodri scored the goal that will go alongside Sergio Aguero's vs QPR as one of their most famous ever, but even the Spaniard admitted he was below his best in the face of almighty Inter pressure.

"I’m emotional. This is a dream come true. All these guys [the fans] around here, waited I don’t know how many years - 20, 30, 40. I’ve been here just four but we deserve. The last years we were so close, it is a dream for all of us," he said.

"I think we made history, but the good thing is that we want more. This group has more ambition, but this is a dream we have to enjoy because these moments never happen again. Of course we hope next year, it is so difficult, but we deserve to celebrate.

"What a team we faced. Unbelievable. The way they defend and the way they counter attack, they deserve lots of credit because they are a great team. But, I don’t want to forget about my lads. We gave everything.

"It was an unbelievable effort from everyone. I wasn’t good in the first half, I was playing s*** to be honest, and then this shows the mentality to overcome the situation in the end. I scored a goal, unbelievable."

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