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Rob Dawson, reporter
Manchester City are hoping Kyle Walker will be fit for the Champions League final despite his absence from training on Tuesday.
Walker missed the training session due to a back problem that arose during the FA Cup Final on Saturday. He was substituted in the last minute of the 2-1 win over Manchester United at Wembley and faces a race against time to prove his fitness for the Champions League final against Inter in Istanbul on Saturday.
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“He has a problem with his back,” Pep Guardiola told a news conference on Tuesday. “yesterday [Monday] It wasn’t good and today it was a little better. We didn’t want to take risks and we’ll see what happens in the coming days.”
City’s match against Inter will be the Premier League champions’ first appearance in the Champions League final since losing 1-0 to Chelsea in 2021.
Guardiola produced an impressive line-up that day, starting the match without a recognizable midfielder – a decision that paid off when Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the game.
Asked if he still blamed himself for the defeat, Guardiola said: “It was a game plan as it will be next Saturday.
“If I told you privately why I made the decision at that moment, you could say it was correct but simple: if I lose, I’m wrong, if I win, I’m right.
“You have to accept that in this business. It was a tough game and in a lot of things we were better than them but we lost. Would I do something different now? Maybe but it doesn’t matter.”
Guardiola has not won the Champions League since he was in charge of Barcelona as City look for their first success in the tournament.
City have won five of the last six Premier League titles and have already won the League and Cup this season, but Guardiola accepts that a lot still depends on the outcome in Istanbul.
“Sooner or later we have to win in Europe to go to another level,” he said.
