Related items

• No complacency as Man City prepare for Champions League final – Kevin De Bruyne

  Kevin De Bruyne insisted there would be no complacency as Manchester City prepare for Saturday’s Champions League final against Inter Milan.

  City are the overwhelming favourites as they look to win the competition for the first time – and complete the treble – in Istanbul.

  Inter finished 18 points behind champions Napoli in Serie A this season but De Bruyne is wary of the threat of Simone Inzaghi’s side.

  The Belgium playmaker said: “You don’t get to the final of the Champions League without being top.

  “I think they won the (cup) double in Italy. They’ve been winning basically every game at the end of the season.

  “They have their system, they have their style, they do what they do really, really well and I don’t feel that anybody is going to think that it’s going to be an easy game against Inter. It’s a final so it starts 50-50.”

  City have long coveted Champions League glory but endured a number of near misses in recent seasons, the closest being their runners-up finish to Chelsea in 2021.

  Their frustrations contrast with their domestic success after, most notably, five Premier League title wins in the past six seasons.

  Manager Pep Guardiola has acknowledged that City will need to transfer their home successes onto the European stage to be truly regarded among the great teams.

  De Bruyne said: “I’ve been here eight years and it’s been incredible. Could I have come here and thought about the amount of games and trophies we would win in eight years? Probably not.

  “In the end we have had a pretty impressive career at City, but it is something we have not won yet and it is something that we want to win. Hopefully it will be Saturday.

  “We know how big the moment is but I feel the more relaxed you are as a team, and the team is doing pretty well with that at the moment, you get a better chance.”

  De Bruyne has painful memories, literally, of that final loss to Chelsea two years ago after suffering a serious facial injury following a collision in the second half.

  He said: “I don’t look at what happened two years ago with bad feelings. You go on, you move on. Ultimately, that’s football.

  “Saturday is a great opportunity. It’s been an incredible year already. We can make it even better, but no matter what, it’s been great.”

• ‘This is not where we are going to stop’ – Michail Antonio on West Ham’s ECL win

  West Ham striker Michail Antonio believes their Europa Conference League triumph is just the start of bigger things to come.

  Jarrod Bowen’s last-minute goal against Fiorentina ended the Hammers’ 43-year wait for a trophy.

  Their 2-1 victory also means West Ham will be back in the Europa League next season, the first time they have qualified for Europe three years running.

  “It’s massive, it’s massive,” said Antonio. “Moving forward this is not where we are going to stop, we will see if we can keep carrying it on and keep pushing ourselves and keep doing better.

  “Last year we got to the semi-finals of the Europa League. This year, we won the Conference League. You can see we have a good pack of boys here, we have got good confidence and hopefully we can build on that.”

  Said Benrahma put West Ham ahead from the penalty spot before Giacomo Bonaventura equalised for the Italian side.

  But Lucas Paqueta’s ball over the top sent Bowen through on goal to fire the Hammers to European glory.

  Full-back Emerson Palmieri revealed manager David Moyes gave a victory speech and, as promised, joined his players in some dancing.

  “The gaffer said, ‘thank you for everything, thank you for the title’. Of course he is happy, we are happy. So everyone is happy,” he said.

  “If you take the images, when you receive the medal, you need to walk on the podium, he did the dance. It was good – for a Scotsman!”

• John Stones relishing key role as Manchester City chase treble glory

  Manchester City defender John Stones could cap a remarkable turnaround from a virtual outcast to being at the cutting edge of Pep Guardiola’s masterplan with a Champions League victory.

  Three years ago the 29-year-old’s future was uncertain. He had made just 24 appearances in the 2019-20 season and the club had spent over £100million on centre-backs Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias.

  That summer Guardiola admitted there was a distinct possibility a player lacking confidence could leave and he did not play a minute in seven of the eight opening league games of the next season.

  But over the course of three seasons he has turned things around so much he is now seen as an integral part of his manager’s latest tactical tweak, with the current fashion for a defender to play as a midfielder when the side is in possession.

  “It was probably one of the hardest times in my career,” said Stones of that period in 2020.

  “I literally went back to firstly looking at myself, being super-critical of myself and what I could do better on the football pitch, and then looking into every fine detail, down to what food, what training, what extras.

  “That’s come down to doing stuff here and then going home and doing work, even late at night, or straight after the training, finding these small margins, putting them all together to kind of break where I was at after coming back to playing.

  “Yeah, (it was a) big learning curve for me and maybe who I am today.”

  In that time period a number of players have left, with Guardiola’s propensity for dispensing with full-backs a little too close for comfort at times for Stones.

  But the former Everton defender never considered seeking opportunities elsewhere.

  “I never thought about that. I think as soon as you accept that or have that mindset then you have killed yourself,” he added.

  “I always wanted to stay, I have stayed and I absolutely love it. I wanted to prove to myself. I didn’t say to anyone ‘It was because I want to prove to you’.

  “I think, if anything, you have to prove to yourself first and foremost that you deserve to be here, you are good enough to be here, and what you bring to the team.”

  The goals of Erling Haaland have helped propel City to a second Champions League final in three years where they start as strong favourites against Inter Milan in Istanbul.

  But Stones’ role and that, to a lesser extent, of Rico Lewis in stepping forward has added another dimension to an already multi-layered team.

  “People have always said from a young age that they can see me playing in there. I still do love playing as a centre-half and I’ve absolutely loved this role as well,” said the Barnsley-born defender.

  “I think I have showed myself that I’m able to do it, maybe showing some attributes that I didn’t know that I had.

  “But the manager has seen (something) in me and ultimately I think I’m just trying to show what I can do in there and be able to help the team ultimately win with my attributes.”

  City may be the favourites but Stones insists they will not be under-estimating Inter, a team who finished in third 18 points behind Serie A champions Napoli.

  “They’re in the Champions League final for a reason,” he added.

  “No matter who we’re playing, no matter what league they’re in, we give the team the respect that they deserve because even the FA Cup, let’s make an example of that, there’s giant-killers, smaller teams in League One and League Two that beat Premier League winners.

  “That’s where the respect (comes from) that every team deserves.

  “They’ve got incredible players. How they played in a big occasion, in a derby game in the Champions League semi-final (against AC Milan) is never easy.

  “We know what we’re up against, they are an incredible team.”