Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, claimed that his team only had a “1%” chance of bringing Real Madrid to the Champions League with Real Madrid with Real Madrid on Wednesday evening with Real Madrid.
Everything could have been so different. The reigning champions of the Premier League had a 2-1 lead against Madrid last Tuesday at the Etihad Stadium even less than ten minutes of the first leg in the Etihad Stadium before two late goals swung the context of the entire draw.
City, which is entered 3-2 before the decisive game this week, must either defeat two clear goals in the normal time or win with a single-goal lead and be enforced in the subsequent punishment. Guardiola was not overly optimistic.
“To win the lead in [the] Bernabeu in this position everyone knows that if you ask before the game, we will be minimal. [long] Since you have a chance, we will try, that’s sure. “
City had a 4-0 win against Newcastle United on Saturday for a late return to form, but Guardiola had tried to emphasize how badly his team was compared with their high standards. “This season, in reality, we were miles away, miles away,” admitted the Catalan coach.
“We were very, very bad in performance [and] In the results of this season and only for a game that played really well today and not the opinion, the reality, the team is at the moment and we are still not good in relation to the day. “
Madrid was not entirely impressive himself. The Spanish giants were held 1-1 by Osasuna at the weekend and were beaten seven times this season in all competitions – more than tripled their losses during the entire 2023/24 campaign.
The city’s chances of success are strongly influenced by the availability of Erling Haaland, which was achieved twice for the English champions in their defeat against Madrid last week. The talisman striker limped against Newcastle with a worrying knee injury, but Guardiola quickly played concerns about a longer absence.