Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola does not feel that it’s any great surprise to see Inter and Milan in the semifinals of the Champions League.

Speaking to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published in today’s print edition, via FCInter1908, the City coach also praised the performance of Napoli against AC Milan in the quarterfinals despite the fact that they were eliminated.

Guardiola will be aiming to finally lift the Champions League trophy with Man City this season, although he’ll know that in order to do so he has to go through one of the two Milan teams.

The Cityzens face a tough semifinal clash with Real Madrid just on the horizon, and then if they are able to overcome Carlo Ancelotti’s side, they will be watching the two-legged Milan derby side to see which of the two city rivals would await them in the final of the competition.

Whilst City and defending champions Madrid are two of the teams considered to have been favourites to win the competition before a ball was even kicked, that was not necessarily the case with either of the Nerazzurri or the Rossoneri.

Whilst Inter and Milan have certainly both proven their quality at various points over the past few seasons, neither have made in-roads in the Champions League beyond the Nerazzurri’s elimination at the hands of Liverpool in the round of sixteen last season.

However, both of the pair have went on a real run in this season’s knockout rounds, setting up a Milan derby semifinal tie twenty years after the teams last met at this stage of the competition.

Many have been surprised by this, but Guardiola said that “I’m not surprised, Italian football is doing well at the moment.”

The Spanish coach also stated that “I watch the match in Naples on Tuesday evening, and the Azzurri impressed me.”

“The matches against Milan have always been very hard-fought matches this season,” he continued.

“You can win or lose by such narrow margins, it makes a difference.”

“Now do we have to say that Napoli are a bad team because they’re out of the Champions League?” he posed.

“No, because I watched them and I was impressed with how they played.”

“Napoli will win the Scudetto,” Guardiola said. “And then we’ll see what they can do in the Champions League again next season.”