Manchester City will face Chelsea in this season’s Champions League final, set to take place in Istanbul later this month.
The Citizens made it to their first ever final of Europe’s elite club competition after overcoming Paris Saint-Germain earlier this week.
In the two-legged semi-final, Pep Guardiola’s side defeated PSG twice, thanks to Riyad Mahrez’s goal in Paris last week and a brace at the Etihad on Tuesday.
The winger was part of the Leicester City title winning squad during the 2015/16 season and also won the the African Cup of Nations with Algeria.
After success with his national team in 2019, the 30-year-old admitted he envisaged Algeria would win the AFCON. L’Equipe interviewed the City star and asked if he has the ‘same type of feeling’ for the final against Thomas Tuchel’s side.
“It’s exactly that. These are things that you feel, that don’t explain. Afterwards, maybe we’ll lose the Champions League final, but I have a lot of confidence in my team, I feel like we can win it,” he said.
“In the autumn, when the results weren’t so good, I would say to everyone, ‘We’re going to be champions’. I knew we hadn’t had any real summer preparation and that we were going to ramp up. There was a click in our victory against Southampton (1-0, December 19) and then we had 21 straight wins.”
City have impressed in all competitions and have already collected their first trophy of this season, when they defeated Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup final last month.
When asked how Guardiola’s side have been so dominant this season, Mahrez explained: “We are a team made up of ‘top players’ who can make a difference. There is not a great star who would be above the others.”
