Pep Guardiola wants Manchester City to prove they are still a “special” side when they face Real Madrid in the Champions League.
City must overcome Real in a two-legged play-off tie to secure their place in the last 16 of the competition after finishing down in 22nd in the newly-revamped league phase.
In fact, the 2023 winners needed a win over Club Brugge in their final group game to avoid exiting the competition altogether, while they are also down in fifth in the Premier League during what has been a poor season so far.
Ahead of Tuesday’s first leg at the Etihad, Guardiola said: “The group stage, the knockout stage is always difficult, we have not done quite well in the group stage so we deserve to be where we are. The draw is the draw and [we] accept the challenge.”
“We play the second game away because we were not good enough in the group stage. We didn’t deserve it [to go straight through to the last 16].
But the City boss insisted: “The team, our team, has something special and hopefully tomorrow we can prove it.
“I will not deny how trust with the players who gave us that incredible decade, winning a lot of things and playing a high standard, I know what we are capable of.
“Of course, we are going to prepare today with the team, what we are going to challenge and hopefully we can perform well.”
RUBEN 💬 Since I have been here this is maybe the most difficult season so far, but I am a firm believer that in the most difficult scenario, you can still achieve something beautiful. We know it will be difficult to get there but we have to believe in what we have in the… pic.twitter.com/FGYjROZ9AX
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 10, 2025
City and Real Madrid rivalry
The play-off tie will be the fourth consecutive season which City and Real have drawn each other in the knockout stages of the Champions League, with all three of those previous encounters coming in the semi-finals.
Their constant battles, which has seen Real progress twice and City once on the way to winning the Treble in 2023, has led many to regard the encounter as one of football’s great modern rivalries.
On that notion, Guardiola added: “In terms of the last decade yeah, maybe, because it’s not normal to play the same rival all the time.
“In terms of history, Champions League, at the end we cannot compare to be honest against Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona or AC Milan. This kind of group.
“In the last decade we have been around. In the last years, the draw, we play against them.”
Real’s front four threat
City will be tested by some of Europe’s deadliest attackers on Tuesday, with Real boasting a stacked forward line of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo.
“It’s impossible in 90/120/200 minutes to control these players,” Guardiola said.
“They are exceptional how they combine, the runners, the ability one against one, how they keep the ball, all four are exceptional.
“Everybody knows it, so you have to reduce that involvement as much as possible, knowing that it’s going to happen, accept it.”