Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola said on Monday that it was “almost impossible” to bring down Real Madrid two years in a row in the Champions League on the eve of the quarter-final first leg clash and after a resounding 4-0 victory. 0 last year. “Two years ago we were eliminated in the last minutes here. Last season, we won (1-1 in the first leg, 4-0 in the return, Editor’s note). It’s becoming a great classic between them and us in recent years,” Pep Guardiola said at a press conference, as the two teams meet for the fourth time in five seasons.
“We have new players and so do they, so it will be completely different matches,” he noted, with Spanish midfielder Rodri believing before him that Real had “changed the way they play but not radically”. The Spanish international, metronome of the reigning European champions, is wary of “very vertical players who do damage on the counterattack” like Vinicius, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo.
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“Everyone knows their strength in transitions. We have to try to hurt them, to punish them, to make them understand that we are here to score goals,” assured Pep Guardiola. “We are talking about Real Madrid, who have the ability to control many aspects of the game. But we must try to impose our game,” he added. “We have to give our best if we want to compete with this team, especially at home. We know them well, we know how to fight them, how to play against them, it’s something we learned in the past,” warned Rodri.
Weighed down by injuries, the Citizens will be without their two starting full-backs Kyle Walker and Nathan Aké for this clash on Tuesday (9 p.m.). Croatian Josko Gvardiol is still uncertain.
