Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola, ironized on Friday at a press conference with the tie that has touched his team in the Playoff of sixth -final sixteen of the Champions League. The Citizens They will face Real Madrid for the fourth consecutive season in the European competition. Shortly after the draw, Guardiola said that “this already seems like a derby” after so many crosses in a row with the whites and wanted to arrive “at a good time” both in the first leg – which will be in the Etihad Stadium on February 11 or 12- on the Vuelta -18 or 19 of the same month at Santiago Bernabéu.
For the Catalan coach, “both Bayern and Real Madrid are very, very hard” and either of the two that would have touched them would have been “complicated.” After that, the Mancunian coach put the focus on the calendar that his picture will have in the coming weeks, which he considers that he is “not kind” with his own.
The City has very complex duels throughout the next month. This Sunday faces Arsenal, he will visit the Orient Leyton at the FA Cup -which should be the most affordable meeting for the Skyblues-, they will receive Madrid at home and that same week you will visit the Newcastle. To the next, they will go to Santiago Bernabéu and will be measured to Liverpool in the Etihad Stadium. They will still have two height games in a row in the Premier: London will move to the clash against Tottenham and have another game at home against the surprising Nottingham Forest.
Faced with this situation, Pep Guardiola stressed that “the calendar is the one” and that “all teams have to play against all”, but criticized that in the domestic league “the most strict calendars are always imposed for the sets they play in Europe”. “There are leagues that play on Friday before the Champions League to have another day of rest,” added Santpedor.
In the Premier League the strictest calendars are always imposed for the teams that play in Europe “
For his part, Emilio Butragueño, director of Institutional Relations of Real Madrid, said on the television of the club that they know “perfectly” Manchester City: “We know of its potential, but we fully trust the talent and competitive nature of our players And what competition means to us. ” Along these lines, the ‘vulture’ stressed that “Madrid’s history with the Champions League has to play a fundamental role in the tie.”
We know the City’s potential, but we fully trust the talent and competitive nature of our players and what competition means to us “
Butragueño believes that they will be “two fantastic games for the category of players who will be on the pitch, which are going to be resolved for small details.” The Madrid leader sees the team “in a good time”: “We are going to need all the players because the calendar is very demanding. We have three games in eight days. We are at a decisive moment where each party brings us closer to the objectives that are fighting for all titles. ”
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Finally, the Director of Institutional Relations of the White Entity admitted that playing the return at the Bernabéu “may be an advantage”: “For this we need to achieve a good result in Manchester and, then, with the support of our audience, Power Power classify ourselves ”.
It is the fifth time that both clubs face the Champions League, with a 3-1 balance favorable to whites. The first occasion was in the semifinals of the 2015-2016 season, which was resolved in the lap with a goal by Gareth Bale.
The second was in the semifinals of the Champions 2021-2022. Madrid fell in the Etihad Stadium 4-3, but traced in the Bernabéu in the last minutes when the City had the pass to the final (3-1). It was in the next course when Guardiola pupils passed over Madrid clearly. First tied at the Madrid stadium (1-1), but in the fief of the Skyblues They fell clearly (4-0).
In the previous season, in the quarterfinals, City and Madrid they crossed again. In the first leg of Bernabéu, there was a tie (3-3) and, on the return, also (1-1). The whites unpattered a infarction penalty shootout (3-4).
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