Manchester City captain Fernandinho says he has been waiting a long time to finally get a crack at a Champions League final ahead of Saturday's clash with Chelsea.
The 36-year-old, who is in his eighth season at the Etihad Stadium after joining from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, has never been beyond the semi-finals in the competition.
But City will play in their first ever Champions League final in Porto and the veteran Brazilian says they will be ready for the challenge.
What's been said?
"There was still that stigma of the fact that the team had never made it to the final before, that we were an inexperienced team in this competition, the club I mean – historically speaking – but I think this season our team has managed to reach a high standard," the Brazilian said.
"There’s no doubt that it’s a special feeling, because for me personally, having been playing in Europe for a while now, I’ve had a chance to play in many Champions League seasons and I’d only got as far as the semis with Manchester City, the quarters with Shakhtar, but I’d never made the final, so it’s really satisfying.
"It’s a really happy moment, a huge honour, and there’s no doubt that it makes you even more motivated, and as we say, we’ve always got to give 100 per cent, 100% of the time, and I think in a game like this anything less than 200% won’t be enough to win it.”
The bigger picture
The starting position at the heart of midfield will be a difficult decision for manager Pep Guardiola, who has to choose between Fernandinho and Spanish team-mate Rodri.
Fernandinho started the semi-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain and was crucial in stopping the counterattacking threat from the French side.
He was also instrumental in his team-mates keeping their heads while PSG were losing theirs, with Angel Di Maria getting sent off, and his experience could prove crucial against Chelsea.
“It’s a matter of reading the game and understanding what’s going on in that moment," he said about the PSG game, which was played on his birthday.
"There’s no doubt that as I’m a captain and the most senior of the club’s players, this is the point when you need to step up and try to organise things for the good of the team, because sometimes it’s easy for a person to lose their head when under a lot of stress or pressure.
"I tried to stop players from falling into this trap so to not harm the team’s performance, because playing in a game at this level with a player like this makes a big difference.”
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