Even with his own game to focus on this weekend, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola took a moment of his pre-match press conference on Friday to voice support for the MLS portion of City Football Group.
New York City FC, one of several sister clubs to the English Premier League powerhouse, have made their first final of any kind in MLS Cup 2021. They entered the league seven years ago, and now are looking to break Portland Timbers' hearts on Saturday at Providence Park by lifting the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy (3 pm ET | ABC, UniMás in US; TSN, TVA Sports in Canada).
"This organization was built for that, and it’s good for this brand … for the city of New York and for the club," Guardiola said. "I wish [them], of course, on behalf of Manchester City, all the best. It’s part of our family and hopefully they can win the final."
Guardiola is known to have a fondness for the Big Apple. And previous NYCFC manager Domenec Torrent was Guardiola's longtime deputy on coaching staffs at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and eventually the blue half of Manchester.
Much earlier Saturday, Manchester City will host Wolverhampton Wanderers in the pre-dawn hours of Portland time, giving the Spaniard plenty of time to cool down and settle in with a glass of wine to watch NYCFC's big match.
