Pep Guardiola still remembers that victory. Two years ago, in the last 16 of the Champions League, Manchester City won 4-2 against Real Madrid in two legs. It was City’s first win against Real after suffering four victories in the Champions League.
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Like Seba, Pep Guardiola’s City will face Real in the knockout stage again. This time the stage is semi-final. The city coach said that he should forget the history of the Madrid club before facing Real in his first leg tomorrow.
The English club has not been able to win the European crown despite pouring a lot of petro dollars in the last one decade. After Guardiola became the coach, City did not win the title despite playing in the Champions League final. Real, on the other hand, is the most successful club in Europe.
Has won the Champions League a record 13 times. City coach Guardiola, who lost to Chelsea in the final last year, told his followers to forget the history of the opposition before facing Real.
Looking at Real’s gold-plated history in Europe, City coach sees Phil Foden-Rahim Sterling at risk of losing confidence. “We have no chance to face their (Real’s) history. The statistics speak for themselves. We want to compete with them. Facing them is always a great test, we want to give that test. If we suffer, we all want to suffer together. We cannot change history. But the game is eleven vs. eleven, and another ball. Neither I nor Carlo can win. The players will make the difference.
Zinedine Zidane was Real’s coach in 2020. Guardiola sees no difference between Carlo Ancelotti’s team and that of the French legend. Whoever the coach is, he explained the ‘DNA’ of Real’s game in this way, ‘Some of their players are individual packages. Which is best, for example, in difficult times, their players try to get out of the match to stay behind 0-3. They do not waste the ball. Benzema, Karbahal, Alaba, Madrich, Cruz — everyone plays this way. ‘
Guardiola also praised Real’s habit of turning around. Ancelotti’s side face Chelsea and Sevilla in La Liga in the Champions League quarter-final. Spanish coach Guardiola thinks that Real can turn around in this way because they have the ability, not the touch of luck, ‘It is the ability, not an accident. There is no touch of fate. They are of very high quality in everything. People say Real is lucky … there is no basis for this. ‘
