Man City will face Real Madrid for the fourth consecutive time in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, after both teams failed to finish in the group stage without finishing in the top eight. Real Madrid beat Man City in 2022 and 2024 before being crowned champions.
The LaLiga giants are a huge challenge for Man City. According to current assessments, the English team is rated lower than Real Madrid. “The match against Real Madrid looks like a derby, we have faced them for 4 years in a row.
With the current situation, facing Real or Bayern is difficult, hopefully we can win the first leg and go through the second leg in Madrid with the best possible result," said Pep Guardiola after the draw.
Having two matches against Real Madrid in February means Man City have a tough schedule in February. Besides that, they will also face Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle in the Premier League.
Man City will now look forward to their away match against Arsenal at 11:30pm on February 2. Pep Guardiola said the team has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to the Emirates.
The Spanish tactician stressed that a tight schedule, with a series of difficult matches, is a common thing for Premier League clubs. He is used to this and has no complaints. Man City themselves won the treble in the 2022-2023 season, so they accept the current situation.
“The fixtures at this stage are always tough, but we get through it. When I was at Barcelona, I watched the Premier League before coming here and Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, they had the same complaints.
As I said before, the schedule we have in February has been there for many seasons. Because we have been in every competition, fighting for the Premier League against difficult opponents… it is not surprising.
We have built this schedule for many years. It's okay. If we complain, get another job, go to another country or don't be the coach of Man City," said Pep Guardiola.
Meanwhile, Marca - a newspaper close to Real Madrid revealed that the Bernabeu team has up to 6 players at risk of being suspended in the second leg against Man City, if they receive another yellow card. They include: Modric, Rudiger, Tchouameni, Bellingham, Endrick and Camavinga. On the Man City side, only Ruben Dias is at risk of missing the second leg if he receives another card.
The first leg of the play-off match between Man City and Real Madrid will take place at 3:00 a.m. on February 12.
