'The highest' - Pep Guardiola hails Man City demolition of Real Madrid as his greatest Champions League performance after 'swallowing poison' in devastating 2022 comeback defeat

• Said win better than any other UCL night
• Described 2022 defeat as 'swallowing poison'
• Told players to visualise facing Inter in final

WHAT HAPPENED? The Catalan believes the performance against Real in the semi-final second leg was the best of his illustrious career in the Champions League. He ranked it above the two wins over Manchester United with Barcelona in the 2009 and 2011 finals and when his Barca side overcame Jose Mourinho's Real in the 2011 semi-finals.

WHAT THEY SAID: "The highest, considering the opponent," Guardiola said when asked in the post-match press conference how the rampant 4-0 win over Carlo Ancelotti's side compared to his greatest victories. "The standard was really, really good."

The City manager also referred to last year's painful defeat to Real in the semi-final second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, saying it made him more determined to face Los Blancos again and beat them. Guardiola added: "I had the feeling we had the mix of calm and tension to play these types of games. It was so tough last season losing the way we lost. We had to swallow poison. When we got Madrid in the draw I said 'I want it'."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: As well as booking their place in the Champions League final next month in Istanbul, their second showpiece in three years, City are one step closer to winning the treble. They could wrap up the Premier League title against Chelsea on Sunday - if not before - and face Manchester United in the FA Cup final. After previously resisting talk about the treble, Guardiola was happier to discuss it. "Let me win the first two. The Premier League we are close. We play against our neighbours and an Italian team in the finals. We are there and the players can think about it and visualise it. They have the feeling and we are three games away," he said.

AND WHAT'S MORE: Guardiola revealed that before the second leg against Real Madrid he had dangled the prospect of facing Inter in the final in the players' thoughts. He said: "We spoke just before we went to the pitch and said, 'Do you want to play vs Inter or not? Ask yourself'. If you play 90 minutes playing thinking you want to play vs Inter, you're going to beat Real Madrid. They played in that spirit."

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? City can wrap up the Premier League title with victory over Chelsea on Sunday, although they could already be champions by the time they kick off, if Arsenal lose to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.