Pep Guardiola: Manchester City Will Suffer Against Real Madrid

Pep Guardiola: Manchester City Will Suffer Against Real Madrid

Martin Moses
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:01 PM
In this article:
UEFA Champions League logo
UEFA UCL
Europe
  • Manchester City play Real Madrid in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal
  • Pep Guardiola has told his side to be ready to suffer against the 13-time winners
  • The Premier League defending champions triumphed last time these two sides met

Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City side that they will have to ‘suffer’ against Real Madrid. The two giants lock horns tonight in the first Champions League semifinal at the Etihad stadium.

Manchester City are aiming to reach back to back Champions League finals. They will also be hoping to go one step better and win the European title for the first time in the club’s history. They were beaten by Chelsea in last season’s final.

Pep Guardiola, Manchester City, Raheem Sterling
Pep Guardiola controls the ball as Raheem Sterling looks on during a training session. Photo by Charlotte Tattersall
Source: Getty Images

To beat an opponent like Real Madrid, when you are playing bad, stick together, suffer together for a few minutes as possible.

Guardiola will be wary of the threat that Real Madrid possesses. Karim Benzema has been unplayable for huge chunks of the season. The French forward has 44 goals in all competitions this season. He scored successive hat tricks as they eliminated Paris Saint Germain and Chelsea in the previous rounds.

They have fantastic players. Benzema has scored a lot of goals throughout his career.

Real Madrid's Champions League record is impressive

The Spanish manager also said that Manchester City can’t compete with Real Madrid’s superior history. The Los Blancos have won this competition 13 times and will be competing in their 31st semifinal.

The history is there and we cannot change it, but its 11 vs 11. The players will decide. We are playing a team who have been here many times. It is not a question of luck or chance, that’s not the case.

Manchester City got the better of Real Madrid last time they met. At that time, Madrid were under Zinadine Zidane. Their current manager, Carlo Ancelloti is an experienced name in the industry.

Ancelloti is on the verge of bagging the La Liga trophy. The current table-toppers need only a point in their next game against Espanyol to win the domestic title with at least four games to go.

Previously, Sports Brief reported that Manchester City beat Watford 5-1 to move a step closer to retaining their Premier League crown. Gabriel Jesus scored four goals to maintain the title charge

Authors
Martin Moses photo
Martin Moses
Martin Moses is a sports journalist with over five years of experience in media. He graduated from Multimedia University of Kenya (Bachelor of Journalism, 2017-2021)
Tags
Carlo AncelottiPep Guardiola