FIFA Club World Cup: Pep Guardiola expresses readiness to win in Saudi

Pep Guardiola has announced that Manchester City players are ‘ready’ for the FIFA Club World Cup final but acknowledged that the Brazilian opponents Fluminense can be dangerous to play against.

Friday’s final in Jeddah brings together Europe’s Champions League winners and the Copa Libertadores victors from South America in a fascinating final.

The Champions League winners booked their ticket to the final after Tuesday’s 3-0 semi-final win over Urawa Red Diamonds.

Speaking ahead of the game, Guardiola declared that “The players are ready and they know how important it is.”

“The pleasure is to have done it. We won the semi final. We try since the semi-final against Urawa to assess the quality that Fluminense have.

“I know exactly the talent and the quality of Fluminense and what they can do. They have beaten teams from Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay.

“I know the players and respect them for what they do. It’s really good the way they play.

“The experience they have with Marcelo, their keeper. They have five or six players over 37, that means they can control emotions. Cano is a striker that has goal in his head.

“They play typical Brazilian style of the 1970s, 80s and the early 90s like when Brazil won the World Cup in 1994.

“They play lots of ball, short passes, one v one, physicality. We have to be aware how much they will try to run behind.

“We have to be precise with the ball and accept they play the way we never face. It is not positional, they move a lot. The ball moves side to side.

“We have to impose our rhythm and do a good performance and be resilient in the bad moments.”

There have been a few English winners over the years in the Club World Cup.

Most recently Thomas Tuchel led Chelsea in 2022 to a 2-1 victory over Palmeiras.