Joleon Lescott have backed Manchester City boss Pep Gaurdiola to banish past heartbroke in Champions League final.
The Argentine tactician will have to banish the demons of failed Champions League experiments when he leads his team out in tonight’s final against Chelsea.
But Joleon Lescott believes he’ll have learned from his mistakes.
Guardiola has the chance to become a European champion for a third time as a head coach as he leads his side out against Thomas Tuchel’s Blues.
The Spaniard is already considered one of the game’s all-time greats, but has the chance to solidify his legacy at the Etihad by delivering the club their first-ever European title.
Guardiola has succeeded twice before, both times with Barcelona, but in recent years has tended to over-complicate things.
Against Lyon last season, he made a bevvy of changes and saw his makeshift team stunned by the French side in a 3-1 demolition.
And during his time at Bayern Munich, he tinkered with his Bundesliga title-winning team and was humiliated in a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid.
But Lescott believes that Guardiola will have learned from his mistakes and will be a better coach for them.
Speaking to Mirror Football , he explained that the Spanish manager will cope well with the pressure upon his shoulders in Lisbon.
He said: “There’s a lot of pressure, the players and the club are expected to get the job done.
“In terms of Pep, the fact he’s admitted [to making mistakes] means he’ll have learned from that.
“I think he’s one of the fastest learning coaches, whether it be pre, during or after a game, he’s quick to analyse what needs to be done.
“The fact that he understands that his tweaking has had a negative impact in the past, I’m sure he’s aware of what he needs to do.”
Lescott also addressed City’s two recent defeats against Chelsea – one in the Premier League and one in the FA Cup semi-final – and claimed Guardiola will have taken lessons away from each.
“The two defeats recently, I’m sure he’s learned from them,” he continued.
“Yeah, it’s not the same team as we’ll see on Saturday, but you tend to learn more when you lose, so the fact he’s done that recently I’m sure he’ll learn from those games.”