Both Pep Guardiola and Kevin De Bruyne acknowledge that for Manchester City, winning the Champions League is both a dream and an obsession.
On Saturday in Istanbul, City will play Inter Milan in the competition final in an attempt to win the trophy for the first time and complete the treble.
Although Guardiola's team has recently dominated the local scene, they have frequently failed to win the club's premier award in Europe despite their best efforts.
At a pre-game press conference on Friday at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, City playmaker De Bruyne and manager Guardiola also spoke.
The question of whether De Bruyne thought triumph was a "dream" or a "obsession" came first.
International player from Belgium: "Maybe both. Depending on who you ask. Every professional athlete aspires to dominate and win the Champions League.
If you are able to win the Champions League, you will have accomplished one of the biggest accomplishments.
Guardiola agreed when the same query was put to him.
The Catalan, who twice led Barcelona to the competition's championship, has led City into the knockout stages seven times, but their 2021 runner-up performance was their closest to winning.
It's a dream, without a doubt, he said. "To achieve things, you need to have the right amount of obsession and desire—that's a good word—as well as the willingness to try it, but of course it's a dream," the speaker said.
The Champions League Final, the apex of the European season, will be played on Saturday night and will feature Manchester City taking on Inter Milan. The match is conceivably the most significant in club football.
Following their victories in the Premier League and the FA Cup, City are, of course, seeking to complete a treble, but they'll need to make history to do it. Despite recent years of success in the English domestic game, they have never advanced past the semifinals of the Champions League, losing to Chelsea in that year's final.
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