The South American team that had the hardest time facing Pep Guardiola as coach

After defeating Boca in the final of the Copa Libertadores, Fluminense booked tickets to the Club World Cup, where they have a great chance of facing none other than Manchester City. This Monday, the local press asked Pep Guardiola what importance he gives to this competition and recalled one of the finals he played in when he was still coach of FC Barcelona.

"We've never won it before. It's a trophy we've never been in because to be there you have to win the Champions League, and it's the first time we've done it. Of course it will be like that, I think I have the feeling that the players are going to be prepared", said the Catalan coach. In this way, he assured that his players will not go on a trip to Saudi Arabia: "When we go we will prepare because I know that for us it is a dream because the club does not have that trophy and because of how difficult it is to play in that competition".

While it is true that Guardiola managed to lift this trophy on the three occasions he had to play it, he assured that it is not an easy tournament at all: "We have two games. From my experience, I was there three times before, the first game is very complicated. People talk about the final, the final, the final... It's hard. Especially in Barcelona, the first two times it wasn't easy to do it”.

The most difficult South American team

In this context, finally the Manchester City coach remembered a specific team, Alejandro Sabella's Estudiantes, with whom he played in the 2009 final: “The first one against the Argentine team was very difficult. We scored in the 92nd minute to we went to overtime and we won it after that. The second one, against Santos, was better. We played very well”.