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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

No telling if Premier League title helps City v Chelsea - Guardiola

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke to the media ahead of Saturday's Champions League final in the Portuguese city of Porto.

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Everton - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - May 23, 2021 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates with the trophy after winning the Premier League Pool via REUTERS/Dave Thompson
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Everton - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - May 23, 2021 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates with the trophy after winning the Premier League Pool via REUTERS/Dave Thompson DAVE THOMPSONPool via REUTERS

City manager Pep Guardiola spoke to the media ahead of Saturday's Champions League final and claimed that he had yet to decide on his starting line-up for the final but dismissed the idea that he may be swayed by performances in training this week.

"They are ready. I know how good they are - all of them. I will not change because of one or two sessions," he said.

"I have known most of them for many, many years, but the starting XI is not done, not yet."

City have lost twice to Chelsea since the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as manager in January and while Guardiola says that has no bearing on the final, he is well aware of his opponents' strengths.

"The setup of the team is wide in the sides, depth, they are so close, the distances, the players in between, they are close, they play really good in the pockets, incredible in behind, create problems for all the teams, not just us," he said.

"Congratulations on the two games they beat us, this is another competition, the final, we will see what happens.

"We are quite satisfied to get into the final but we know if you don’t have a huge desire to win it, a huge desire to know what you have to do, then it will not be possible to win the game and win the Champions League."