Pep Guardiola Hails Exceptional Real Madrid Attack Ahead Of UEFA Champions League Showdown
Real Madrid and Manchester City will meet in a UEFA Champions League knockout stage play-off clash on February 11. The first leg will be at the Etihad Stadium, while the second will be at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In recent years, the two sides have clashed frequently in the UCL. There have been some memorable matches, and this year's clash could once again live up to the expectations.
MORE: Manchester City vs Real Madrid: 5 Classic Champions League Clashes
Los Blancos have a phenomenal attack with players like Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, and Jude Bellingham. Ahead of the game, Pep Guardiola has hailed Los Merengues' attacking options.
Guardiola told the media:
It's impossible to control these players over the two games. They're all exceptional. We have to reduce their influence as much as possible. We must have the ability to stop them when we have the ball and stop them from running. We will try to impose our game, be clever to get a good result for the Bernabéu.Pep Guardiola
Guardiola also said that Real Madrid and Manchester City have now grown a special rivalry in recent years. Speaking on the same, he said (via Manchester City):
Undoubtedly so. I would say in the last years yes. We won four, draw five lost three, so in recent times maybe, but in terms of history of Champions League history we cannot compare to Madrid, Milan, Bayern Munich. In the last decade we have been around. But of course, in the last few years we have played a lot against them.Pep Guardiola
Real Madrid have played 8 games against Manchester City in the last 5 years.
— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) February 10, 2025
2 W (1 on penalties)
2 D
4 L
18 goals conceded
12 goals scored pic.twitter.com/WtYn9Y6MVk
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Apratim is an experienced sports journalist having covered European and World Football, Combat Sports, Olympic Sports, and more for online media publications like Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, and more. He is currently an MSc. in Sport Marketing student at Loughborough University, London.