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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Tyrone Marshall

Ederson preparing for penalties as Man City leave no stone unturned ahead of Champions League final

The common conception this week has been that Manchester City are 90 minutes away from the treble, but Blues fans of a certain vintage could tell you things are rarely that simple.

Pep Guardiola's side are strong favourites to beat Inter Milan in Saturday's Champions League final in Istanbul and they will be expected to wrap up the third leg of an historic treble in normal time.

City avoided the need for any extra work last weekend, beating Manchester United 2-1 at Wembley in the FA Cup final and the expectation is that Inter won't pose as stern a challenge on the banks of the Bosphorus.

But anything can happen in a cup final and City are leaving nothing to chance, with Ederson revealing they have practised and researched penalties this week ahead of a potential shootout that could shred the nerves given what will be riding on the outcome.

ALSO READ: Walker reveals United and Liverpool motivation in Champions League final

The Brazilian goalkeeper would no doubt be keen to take one if it came to that, but his primary job will be to stop them. It is two years since he last saved a penalty and he has conceded all of his last eight.

"We have been working on absolutely everything, whether that is crosses, penalties, we know we have to be prepared for any circumstance that can come during the 90 minutes or extra time and even penalties if it gets that far," said Ederson.

"We have all been working for this for a long time. The whole team have seen a lot of victories but also defeats as well. The players who have been here for five or six years who have seen these sorts of defeats, we have learnt from them so that helps us to grow as a team and this is what we all want so we are going to prepare well to go out on Saturday."

Ederson revealed City had partied hard after winning their two trophies so far this season, wrapping up the Premier League and FA Cup in May, and the goalkeeper sprayed his hair blue to mark the occasions.

He will do so again if City win the Champions League, revealing it was his daughter's idea to use a temporary hair dye to go blue to celebrate trophies.

This one will mean more than those that have come previously at the Etihad, but Ederson won't be altering his high-risk, high-reward approach in goal, despite the size of the prize on offer at the Ataturk Stadium.

"We have got to play the same way we have been playing throughout the season and not change anything," the 29-year-old said.

"As goalkeepers, we have to be able to show personality and have the ball at our feet but that is not just for the goalkeepers, for the centre-backs as well and the whole team in general.

"That is part of the life of the footballers, you are going to make mistakes, sometimes it is in the first game, sometimes it is in the last, that happens to everyone but you have to show personality.

"I don’t feel that pressure at all. City goalkeepers need to be calm in those situations and show personality. We know teams come out to press us, to try and win the ball back high but it is great that I have great options as well to be able to try and find passes.

"I remember one game against Spurs where I did make an error, it led to a goal but you can’t let the pressure get to you. I am part of the process as well and everyone here learns from their mistakes so I always look to stay calm in those situations."

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