Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola said Real Madrid derserve to be La Liga leaders and his team is well aware of the Spanish side's habit of producing their best in tough times. The two giants are scheduled to face-off for a fourth consecutive year in the UEFA Champions League, having met in four knockout ties since 2020.
In the first leg of the playoff tie at the Etihad on Tuesday, La Liga leaders Real Madrid will be without key defenders Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao and David Alaba. "I think both teams have had problems in terms of injuries during the season. Madrid handled it much better than us because they are still top of the league and fighting against Atletico Madrid," Guardiola told reporters on Monday. "That shows again the consistency they have. At the end they are a huge competitor. We know it.
"We have faced it many times with them and how in the tough moments they bring the best of them - we know it. Of course we have to make two good games to go through," he said.
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Both Real and City failed to advance automatically to the last 16 as one of the top eight sides in the Champions League table after they finished 11th and 22nd, respectively, in the new league-phase format and have to play a two-legged playoff.
Since the sides' met last year, Real have strengthened an already formidable attack with the acquisition of Kylian Mbappe, who is supported by Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr. Guardiola said it would be impossible to shut out Real's forwards. "How they combine, the runners, the ability one-against-one, how they keep the ball, all four are exceptional. Everybody knows it, so you have to reduce that involvement as much as possible, knowing that it's going to happen, accept it," the former Barcelona manager said.
Manchester City are fifth in the Premier League, 15 points adrift of leaders Liverpool, with the prospect of a record-extending fifth successive title all but dashed already.
