LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 03: David de Gea of Manchester United reacts after losing the Emirates FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on June 03, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola took a clear swipe at Manchester United star David De Gea before his side’s Champions League final victory against Inter Milan.
Rodri’s second half goal ensured City were crowned champions of Europe for the first time, winning the treble in doing so.
Inter gave City a difficult test, with the Italians proving resolute in defence and dangerous from set-pieces.
It was a far tighter contest than many predicted and certainly closer than the FA Cup final last weekend, which saw City dominate rivals Manchester United.
De Gea was to blame for Ilkay Gundogan’s second goal at Wembley and his kicking was once again below-par.
The Spaniard struggled with his distribution, which allowed City to adopt a high press and keep United penned in their own half.
Guardiola has won the Champions League three times (Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)
That was in contrast to Andre Onana’s distribution during the final, with the Cameroon star finding clever ways past City’s press.
And, speaking about the threat of Onana before the final, Guardiola said that wasn’t the case against United last week as De Gea kept ‘going long’.
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‘The back five [for Inter] are wide, when you make a switch of play it’s more difficult to get it, with five it’s more difficult,’ said Guardiola.
‘Inter is not just the strikers and five at the back – the keeper for a long time we didn’t see something like this with Onana
‘It’s difficult when you have that keeper to high press properly. If you are man-to-man they link to the striker with [Romelu] Lukaku, Lautaro [Martinez] and [Edin] Dzeko, they are masters of keeping the ball.
‘With United, for example, it’s long ball, with Rashford and the other one, they don’t keep it.
‘These guys [Inter] they keep it. And after they link it they run. That’s why you’ve got to think about what to do.
‘With the ball, wow, they [Inter] are really, really, really good, that is why they are in the Champions League final.’
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Brutal.