Any team wanting to win the UEFA Champions League has to beat Real Madrid, says Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, as the two clubs look ahead to a repeat of last season’s sensational semi-final.
Real beat Man City 6-5 on aggregate at the same stage of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League en route to winning the trophy for the 14th time. They also eliminated City at the same stage in 2015/16, the season before Guardiola joined.
“I think all the clubs in the world have the feeling if you want to win this competition you have to beat Real Madrid right now,” Guardiola told the Man City official website. “Before it used to be Barcelona, but now it’s Real Madrid.
“I heard that they have reached 11 semi-finals in 13 years – so hats off. We are three [in a row] and what we have done is incredible to reach the Champions League semi-final.”
City secured their passage to the final four on Wednesday after a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich in Germany completed a 4-1 triumph over the two legs.
It has set up a two-legged tie that takes place in Madrid on 9 May and in Manchester eight days later.
Positive signs
Guardiola, who has won the competition twice as a coach, but yet with City, believes the scoreline in Munich could easily have been closer against his former club but says it bodes well his team came out on top in the key moments, only conceding once over 180 minutes.
“I’m so happy for three years in a row to be in the Champions League semi-finals,” he said. “To be honest, the result of 4-1 doesn’t show what was really in the two games, from my point of view.
“I couldn’t expect anything different knowing how good they are, the physicality and ideas of Bayern Munich. I was impressed when I lived with them and I was impressed when I play against them.
“But in this competition it’s the details. Last season in the semi-final of the Champions League we lived the opposite part, and in the right moments in these two games we were there.
“We were incredibly solid because we defended really well in the boxes and this is the area we have improved the most comparing to previous seasons.
Man City's run-in
| Date | Comp | Opp |
|---|---|---|
| Sat 22 Apr | FAC | Sheff Utd (N) |
| Wed 26 Apr | PL | Arsenal (H) |
| Sun 30 Apr | PL | Fulham (A) |
| Wed 3 May | PL | West Ham (H) |
| Sun 7 May | PL | Leeds (H)* |
| 9 May | UCL | Real Madrid (A) |
| Sun 14 May | PL | Everton (A) |
| 17 May | UCL | Real Madrid (H) |
| Sat 20 May | PL | Chelsea (H) |
| Sun 28 May | PL | Brentford (A) |
| TBC | PL | Brighton (A) |
*Subject to change
“We controlled it better in the second half from minute one. The only regret is that we didn’t have more sequence of passes so we could finish quicker.
“But knowing the quality of our opponent, congratulations to all at Manchester City, thank you to our fans and now we rest and play on Saturday our FA cup semi-final [against Sheffield United].”