Paris Saint-Germain's win against Arsenal on Tuesday night was sealed by an early Ousmane Dembele goal which seperates the two sides heading into the second leg at the Parc de Princes. Barcelona also locked horns with Inter Milan in one of the best games of the season against Inter Milan in a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Camp Nou.
Asked about Barca’s enthralling draw with Inter in Thursday’s press conference, Guardiola reflected on the semi-finals as a whole and stated that games such as those will continue to help the industry grow.
“I was surprised how nice was the game. So thanks to these types of games the stadiums will never, ever be empty, and our business will grow up.
“So I can just be grateful for the two semi-finals because both were unbelievable, especially yesterday’s game.
“When you play like Barcelona play, the stadiums will never, ever be empty and we can live in that business for a long, long time. So it doesn’t matter the result, how proud the people who love Barcelona are.
“And I think Inter prove again when we won the Champions League against the opponent we played, it’s incredible Inter how good they defend in transitions, physicality, well organised. (Simone) Inzaghi is an unbelievable manager,
“Next Tuesday and Wednesday will be incredible, the two games. I think they’re four fantastic teams and they deserve to be there.”
It is all to play for in the second leg of the semi-finals as both games have very tight aggregate scorelines. Guardiola’s side may not be involved in either game but the Spaniard seems very pleased that Europe’s top division is thriving without him as he pushes his team towards a top five position in the Premier League to qualify for next season’s competition.