Pep Guardiola thinks ‘it’s better’ for Manchester City to play against Real Madrid in the Champions League
Friday was the day for the Champions League to establish the round of 16 matches. Some ties could easily be finals, like the one Manchester City must play. Pep Guardiola was not discouraged by being drawn against Real Madrid.
Once Real Madrid’s victory over Benfica was confirmed, many voices from the club predicted the English side would be the opponent. In the end, they were right. After the event it was club legend Emilio Butragueño who complained about the pairing.
Guardiola had a different approach to the match. “For our club, the more we play against the best teams of this competition, the better. We’ll learn more, we’ll improve and we’ll be better in the future,” he said.
Guardiola’s description of Real Madrid
Real Madrid have not had the season they expected and even made an early managerial change, appointing Álvaro Arbeloa as interim for Xabi Alonso. That does not change Guardiola’s view.
The Spanish manager has had historic matches against Real Madrid, including epic El Clásico nights. This tie will not be new to him either, since he has faced European giants many times even after leaving his country.
Guardiola was respectful of his rivals even if they are not producing dazzling performances: “Since I was a player and a manager with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, Real Madrid have always had great players. It’s different than our last match because it was Alonso before, now it’s Arbeloa. We’ll see.”
Guardiola isn’t thinking about Real Madrid yet
The most important match of the Champions League could be this one, and everyone is anxious to see who moves on to the final eight. That is not Guardiola’s focus right now.
He laid out the immediate schedule to explain his priorities: “In the middle of the week we have Nottingham Forest, then Newcastle in the FA Cup. We have time to think about Real Madrid.”