Guardiola says Man City have ‘never faced’ a team like Fluminense

Pep Guardiola says Manchester City have “never faced” a team like Fluminense before, likening the Club World Cup finalists to some of the great Brazil national teams of the past.

Fernando Diniz once described the unique football played by Fluminense as the opposite of Guardiola sides. The team have adopted an anti-positional style, which enables his players to interchange positions on the pitch.

The unusual tactics saw Diniz – who is also the interim manager of Brazil – lead the club to their first-ever Copa Libertadores title with a 1-0 win over Boca Juniors in November.

Speaking ahead of Friday’s final – which is live on TNT Sports – Guardiola told reporters: “We have to be resilient because of the way they play – they will demand a lot of effort – and try to be aware and precise with the ball.

“The way they play, we’ve never faced, never. We will have to impose our rhythm and our positional game as best as possible and do a good performance, because we know without a good performance and being resilient in the bad moments it will be so difficult to win the final.

“They play a typical Brazil style from the 70s, 80s, early 90s – until 1994, when they won the World Cup in the United States.”

City come into the game amid questions about their credentials to win a fourth consecutive Premier League title after a run of just one win in their last six league matches.

While the injured trio of Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku will miss the game for City, Fluminense have a clean bill of health.

They will boast the presence of former Real Madrid defender Marcelo, and midfielder Andre, who has been linked with a move to Arsenal and Liverpool, while German Cano – who has scored 40 goals in 59 games this calendar year – will provide a threat in attack.

“I love it. I love the build-up. I love how they associate between each other, the respect [they have] all of the time for the ball,” Guardiola continued.

“I know perfectly the team we are going to play and I have huge respect for the essence of Brazilian football.

“When I was a little boy, not even a teenager, I listened to my dad or my people [talk about] the way that Brazil had success with all previous generations. I saw it for many, many years.”

Man City are hoping to become the fourth team from England to win the trophy following the respective successes of Manchester United (2008), Liverpool (2019) and Chelsea (2021).

All seven matches of the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup will be live on TNT Sports, with ad-free coverage available on discovery+.

Coverage of Manchester City v Fluminense starts at 17:45 UK time on TNT Sports 1, with kick-off at 18:00.

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