Pep Guardiola Questions ‘Weird’ Champions League Draw With Fierce Arsenal Challenge

Man City will once again face Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Pep Guardiola wants a change to the draw. | Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has encouraged UEFA to alter its rules for the Champions League knockout stages to prevent repeats of previous fixtures after his side once again drew Real Madrid in the round of 16.

City and Madrid have already faced off 11 times since the start of 2020 and will take that tally to 13 after Friday’s round of 16 draw brought the two teams together again. Some ever-present Premier League teams have only had 12 games against the Cityzens since the decade began.

Indeed, the last time City faced Madrid was just weeks ago as Guardiola’s side battled to a 2–1 win in the league phase back in December. The boss wants a change to stop teams that met in the first stage of the competition from meeting early on in the knockouts.

“Yes, it is a little bit weird [to face Madrid again],” he said.

“Not many times does it happen that the last game of the group stage—Real Madrid vs. Benfica—is the first draw. It looks different. People will agree or disagree, but it is different.”

---

Guardiola: Arsenal’s Side of the Draw No Easier

Guardiola believes Arsenal have a tough draw of their own. | David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

City face an incredibly daunting path to the Champions League final, needing to emerge from a side of the bracket which, alongside Madrid, also includes Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Galatasaray and Atalanta.

Arsenal avoided a spot on that gauntlet. Drawn against Bayer Leverkusen in the next round, Mikel Arteta’s side would meet Bodø/Glimt or Sporting CP in the quarterfinals, with one of Barcelona, Newcastle United, Atlético Madrid or Tottenham Hotspur waiting in the semifinals.

While City’s path may look tougher on paper, Guardiola insisted Arsenal have it no easier than anybody on his side of the bracket.

“[It] would be so disrespectful [to], for example, Newcastle, Barcelona, top teams, Atlético Madrid or Spurs,” he said. “So I’m not a fan of that [saying it’s the easier half of the draw].

“Now, for everybody Bodø/Glimt is top, right? Bodø/Glimt now is, ‘Oh my God, what a team!’ So, Champions League is so ­difficult.

“I’m not saying Madrid is not difficult, everybody knows it, but the rest of the teams that you play, I don’t know, you can name me any team, all of them, they have the trick. If you want to go through in this competition right now, you have to win against the best teams, otherwise you don’t deserve it.”

---