by Blowing away Real Madrid in the second semi-final of the Champions League in front of their home crowd, Manchester City made the fantasy come true last spring. On Wednesday the challenge for the holders is to knock out the Madridistas again at the Etihad Stadium, and after a scintillating performance a year ago there is no sense of inferiority.
By the end of a seismic night at the jubilant Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola’s side had won 4-0, 5-1 on aggregate, a step closer to the treble, and Carlo Ancelotti’s continental aristocrats were heading back to the Spanish capital respectively.
This was some display against the 14-time winners, who were billed by Bernardo Silva as “kings of the competition” on the eve of the second quarter final, the tie up at 3-3 after last week a big touch. It was a transfer contest, anathema to Guardiola’s desire for total control. But while he and Silva are aware of Madrid’s potential, the Portuguese focuses on the importance of the performance 11 months ago, in which he scored twice in the first 37 minutes.
This came after Ancelotti’s men had overturned a 5-3 aggregate deficit the previous year when Karim Benzema’s extra-time penalty put City 6-5 ahead in the 90th minute of the semi-final second leg at the Bernabéu. Madrid’s Federico Valverde, whose late volley achieved parity eight days ago, has named the Etihad as the “difficult stadium” to play in, because of the fans and City’s style of play.
Silva understands why. “We have that feeling and we still feel very strong with our people,” he says. “After what happened last season when Real knocked us out, we wanted to put things right and that performance was also an apology to our fans for what happened because we feel we had another chance the win a competition.
“It’s a different game now, different teams, we have the signings and the players that are left. We will see but we are very confident because we play at home against the kings of the competition.”
Those Silva has mentioned as new arrivals for City are Jérémy Doku, Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes, while Ilkay Gündogan, the captain, and Riyad Mahrez, the two key three-way winners so many have gone. Jude Bellingham was Madrid’s big addition last summer, although he has been muted in the first leg, his player of the season, the fulcrum of Ancelotti’s team, has contributed 20 goals and 10 assists, often as a No.10.
Guardiola wants the 20-year-old to be shut down again: “At his age, he handles the pressure without a problem. He has a good attitude and is an exceptional player. We have to control it and see what it does. Playing at a top club like Madrid or Barcelona, it is not easy to solve quickly; he has decided faster. From the start his impact was huge in terms of goals and presence and many things.”
As a former Barça captain and coach, Guardiola has a sordid history with Madrid. “It’s always been and always will be big,” he says. “Real Madrid is always a big game in this competition. It is special for me, as a player and as a manager. But this does not count. It’s about what we have to do to win tomorrow.”
Vinícius Júnior’s pace through the middle and Rodrygo out wide as well as Toni Kroos’ midfield guile complement Bellingham’s game-breaking threat, and while Guardiola understands how difficult it is to stop Madrid, he urges City to try.
“We have to adjust some things that we didn’t do well at the Bernabéu,” he says. “The result was very good, more than fine, but we have to perform a little better. We have our last training on Tuesday and we’ll talk about that and get to it.”
Real’s rout last year was huge psychologically but Guardiola needs no respite. He says: “We have to feel the pressure that you don’t want to lose the game. If you think we’ve already done it, we’re not going to be this hungry to compete against these teams. It is true that we feel better and more comfortable because we won it but we need the right energy.
“Our people at home will help us a lot. We have sold out. They need a lot of noise and presence, especially at bad moments, because, as I said before the game in Madrid, in a game of more than 90 minutes there are moments in which you are better and moments in which you suffer.
City struggled earlier in the season but Saturday’s 5-1 rout of Luton shows they are hitting their best precisely when they need to. Silva explains the imbalance in late autumn and early winter.
“A combination of different things,” he says. “A team that wins three times comes back on a piece of cake s. ” says the 29-year-old. “Gündogan, Mahrez left and it was not easy to adapt, Rodri was suspended [for three games] – a big player for us – and Kevin De Bruyne had a long injury.
“Oh [6] We haven’t lost a game in December so we are ready to go to this part of the season to fight for the three most important competitions.”
