Last year’s semi-final shock serves as extra motivation for Manchester City
After their painful defeat by
Real Madrid at this stage of the
Champions League last season,
Manchester City midfielder Rodri says his side are out for revenge tonight.
City are back at the
Bernabeu for the first leg of their semi-final and the memories of last year’s second-leg collapse are still fresh in their minds.
“In the last five minutes of the second leg we didn’t handle it the right way, but we have learned from that — you have to kill when you can,” said Rodri.
“We changed a lot of things and the environment has changed a lot, so we are here to fight again and we have the hunger for revenge.”
City certainly have changed from a year ago and nights like this are exactly why they signed
Erling Haaland.
If they want to, as Rodri put it, “kill” a game, then there is no one better than Haaland to do the honours. The Norway striker has been unstoppable this season, scoring 51 goals in 46 games since joining from Borussia Dortmund last summer.
Haaland’s arrival has transformed the way City play, giving Guardiola greater tactical flexibility than ever.
If needed, the Spaniard can instruct his team to go direct and in big matches this season, such as both Premier League games against title rival Arsenal, that has proved decisive.
“If you have a player like Haaland, you have to take advantage,” Guardiola said yesterday. “We will play for him. When we didn’t have him we had to play differently. Now we have to take advantage of having a player like him.”
“Haaland is very dangerous, we know it,” said Real boss Carlo Ancelotti. “But it’s not only him.
“City has a complete team that plays very well. We will try to stop a team that seems unstoppable, but we will have our chances and we can compete.”
Real Madrid predicted XI (4-3-3): Courtois; Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Camavinga; Valverde, Kroos, Modric; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
Manchester City predicted XI (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji; Stones, Rodri; Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish; Haaland
0:15 Pep Guardiola on last season game vs Real Madrid
2:18 Pep Guardiola on better prepared
3:02 Pep Guardiola on the two teams being in different places
4:27 Pep Guardiola on Man City being in third semi final
6:27 Pep Guardiola on danger of players being distracted
7:42 Pep Guardiola on Man City being consistent
8:41 Real Madrid strength
9:42 Pep Guardiola on getting an mental advantage
12:12 Pep Guardiola on Man City style
13:40 Pep Guardiola on the second leg
14:48 Pep Guardiola on Bernabeu
