“Before the last decade, we were never here” – Guardiola makes honest admission about Manchester City ‘history’ ahead of Real Madrid clash
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has made an honest admission regarding the club's history ahead of the club ahead of Tuesday's clash against Real Madrid.
The Cityzens have an opportunity to make it to the back-to-back finals of the Champions League. However, they have to go through the most successful club in the competition, Real Madrid, in order to book their place at the Stade de France.
Los Blancos are the 13-time winners of the premier club competition in European football. Manchester City, on the other hand, played their first-ever Champions League final last season and lost 1-0 to Chelsea.
Ahead of the first leg of the semi-final tie at the Etihad, Pep Guardiola has admitted that the Sky Blues are nowhere close to their opponents in terms of history.
.@sterling7's thoughts on the #UCL 👇
#ManCity https://t.co/NRExWdoavk
The 51-year-old has suggested that reaching the final for the first time last season was a good lesson for his side. The former Barcelona manager said in his pre-match press conference, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News:
"If we have to compete with their history, we don't have any chance. It speaks for itself. We have the desire to compete with them. It's a chance to improve, we want to try it. Try, suffer when we suffer, stick together. Try to attack best as possible."
"Same if we play Bayern or Barcelona or teams many times in this position. Before the last decade, we were never here, reaching the final is always a good lesson for us."
Manchester City will be the favorites against Real Madrid
Real Madrid might be the most successful team in the history of the Champions League but they will be the underdogs against Pep Guardiola's side.
At the moment, Manchester City and Liverpool are clearly the two best teams in Europe. The two Premier League giants could meet in the final this season if they can get past the Spanish duo of Real Madrid and Villareal, respectively.
🗣️ "Try to be ourselves"
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola outlined what his side must do to beat Real Madrid and reach back-to-back Champions League finals 🏆 https://t.co/5ALm0bKqX4
Carlo Ancelotti's side have done extremely well to make their way to the semis, defeating Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in the last two rounds.
Manchester City demolished Sporting in the round of 16 but had to scrape past Atletico Madrid in the quarters.
Despite the fact that the Sky Blues are a much better team on paper, they cannot underestimate the pedigree of Real Madrid. Pep Guardiola's admission regarding the history of the two clubs is a clear indication that his side have their feet on the ground.