Pep Guardiola has urged his Manchester Metropolis stars to display their “personality” as the Spaniard plots still a further prosperous check out to Authentic Madrid in Wednesday’s Champions League semi-remaining 2nd leg.
Guardiola’s side head to Madrid with a slender 4-3 gain after last week’s thrilling very first leg at the Etihad Stadium.
With a location in the Champions League ultimate at stake, Guardiola can acquire convenience from his extraordinary record in Real’s scary Bernabeu Stadium.
Quite a few star-studded teams have folded when confronted by a European night underneath the lights in a person of the sport’s most hallowed cathedrals.
But Guardiola has under no circumstances been cowed by the prospect of facing Actual on their personal turf, winning 6 occasions and shedding just once in 9 visits with City, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Guardiola’s Barcelona marked his first activity as a viewing manager in the Bernabeu with a 6-2 demolition of Serious in 2009.
He also masterminded a 2- Champions League semi-last very first leg win at Authentic in 2011 that propelled Lionel Messi and firm to the second of their two Champions League titles through his reign.
Messi memorably scored a excellent solo goal in that face and Guardiola would dearly really like a identical contribution from a person of City’s array of attacking skills.
City have already won at the Bernabeu in the Guardiola era, securing a 2-1 triumph in the Champions League very last 16 first leg two yrs in the past on route to eliminating the Spanish club.
All round, Guardiola has received 12 of his 20 managerial conferences with Actual at property and away.
But Guardiola did suffer a Champions League semi-last exit from Authentic in 2014 when his Bayern Munich had been crushed 5- on combination by Los Blancos.
And, fuelled by Karim Benzema’s remarkable aim blitz, Actual have by now staged two extraordinary comebacks at the Bernabeu to knock out Paris Saint Germain and Chelsea in the earlier two rounds.
Whilst City were being evidently the far better facet in the first leg from Serious previous 7 days, they could not produce the knockout blow due to a blend of weak ending and sloppy defending.
‘It’s massive for us’
With that in head, Guardiola has no intention of underestimating Carlo Ancelotti’s workforce, stating: “I’ve shed and won towards them. You participate in hundreds of occasions towards a rival, you get and shed and none of that (past historical past) arrives into it.
“The talent they have, the only way to defeat them is to be superior.”
Offered the 51-yr-old’s superstitious leanings, Guardiola could possibly have been dissatisfied to discover Town ended up not able to remain in his favoured resort in advance of the 2nd leg.
Guardiola likes to return to resorts he considers to have been lucky and City stayed in the 4 Seasons for their quarter-closing from Atletico Madrid previous month.
On the other hand, they could not secure enough rooms for their squad and personnel at the 4 Seasons this time, so have experienced to change to the nearby Mandarin Oriental Ritz.
“To acquire this competition, in my tiny encounter, you have to defeat the situations that arise and you have to execute really effectively in two game titles,” Guardiola said.
“It’s a very good exam for us. We have to clearly show our temperament in the video game. We will perform to get.”
City are embroiled in a tense Leading League title race with Liverpool, but the Champions League is Guardiola’s holy grail.
Crushed by Chelsea in their to start with Champions League last visual appeal very last year, Town midfielder Ilkay Gundogan insists they are identified to make amends for that painful defeat.
“We are likely to perform in a great stadium against a excellent workforce. True are just one of the best groups in history, so you can sense how a lot of a challenge it is,” Gundogan mentioned.
“It’s substantial for us and for the club. We want to get to the ultimate yet again, like previous yr.”
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