Guardiola warns against seeking revenge in Champions League showdown with Real Madrid

He added, “What would have been, it would be a grave mistake to think of it.”

He continued, “The lesson we learned from last year is not revenge, but getting to know what happened, getting a good result, giving a good performance, giving the opportunity and leaving the door open to confrontation in Manchester.”

And after winning 4-3 in the second leg last season, City increased their lead at the Santiago Bernabeu when Riyad Mahrez fired a goal in the 73rd minute.

But two goals scored by Real Madrid substitute Rodrigo brought the royal team back into the match by reaching a tie and starting extra time. Karim Benzema, the Real Madrid star, was able to take control of the match in favor of his team, after he scored a goal for Carlo Ancelotti’s team from a penalty kick in the 95th minute.

“I am not one to encourage talking about experiences in a positive or negative way,” Guardiola said.

“Of course we have the same coaches and the same 80% players on both sides, but this match is completely different.

And he continued, saying, “We played exceptionally at home, we could not have played better. In Madrid, our performance was not exceptional, but it was good. We did everything to reach the final, but it is football.”

More than a year after defeating the Raimontada 3-1, City returns to Madrid in the first leg of this season’s Champions League semi-final to face Real Madrid today.

The Spanish team, who beat Liverpool in last year’s final, will travel to Manchester for the second leg on May 17.

Guardiola said: “The difference this year is that the second leg is at home. I’m not sure if it’s an advantage or a disadvantage, but I think everything will be decided in Manchester.”

City is seeking to win the Champions League, the English Premier League and the FA Cup, after the gap widened between it and Arsenal in the English Premier League, and it has already booked its place against Manchester United in the Wembley final on June 3.

On the other hand, it seems that Real Madrid may lose the Spanish League title to Barcelona. And after winning the King’s Cup last Saturday, he is likely to focus on trying to win the Champions League for the sixth time in the last ten seasons.

The former Barcelona manager, Guardiola, admitted last year’s exit at the hands of Real Madrid was “difficult”, but said City remain on track to achieve their biggest goal of winning the Champions League.

Guardiola said – whose team lost to Chelsea in the 2021 final: “One day we will reach the final and we will win it. We came here this season to do that.”

He added, “To win this competition you have to beat the best teams and Madrid is the best team in this competition in the last decade.”

Rodri, the City midfielder, said his team had learned lessons from last year’s defeat but contradicted his coach’s comments by saying the players in his team were “hungry for revenge”.

The Spanish international added: “We played a fantastic 180 minutes but sometimes it’s not enough – you can lose the game in five minutes. We didn’t treat the final minutes of the second leg in the right way and we have to learn from that. We have to beat them whenever we get the chance.” .

Aki is absent from the exercise Mordic ‘will be involved’

City defender Nathan Ake missed open training last Monday, which raised doubts about his possibility of participating in today’s match.

Aki (28 years old) recently returned after recovering from a hamstring injury and was substituted in the second half of last Saturday’s victory over Leeds United.

The Dutch international has been showing an outstanding performance at left-back for City since Joao Cancelo moved to Bayern Munich on loan in January.

On the other hand, veteran midfielder Luka Modric returns to the starting line-up of the royal team after fully recovering from an injury he was suffering from.

The 37-year-old Croatian international, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2018, recovered quickly beyond expectations to participate as a substitute in winning the King’s Cup final last Saturday, after Real defeated Osasuna.

“He can play without a problem, and he will,” said Ancelotti, Real’s coach.

England star Erling Haaland leads City’s efforts to win the treble, in the English Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League, a treble that was achieved only once before in the history of English football at Manchester United in 1998-1999.

The 22-year-old Norwegian striker, who moved to City from Borussia Dortmund for 51 million pounds last summer, scored 51 goals in 46 games this season, including 12 goals in eight Champions League matches.

Ancelotti said: “It is clear that Haaland is a very dangerous player, and he has great capabilities, especially in scoring goals. He is a threat.”

He added, “Just talking about Haaland means not talking about a whole team that plays good football, defends well, attacks, and has ideas.”

And the coach of the Spanish team continued: “We are not preparing for a match to stop Haaland, but to stop the progress of a team that seems unstoppable, but I think we can have chances to get an equal match, and we can win it.”

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos referred to the Spanish team’s extraordinary comeback last season while mocking former England striker Wayne Rooney’s predictions that City would “beat” the club in this year’s match.

Kroos said: “It wasn’t the same today as it was a year ago, right? Real Madrid won, and yes we did.”

He added, “I remember words from last year, not the words of Rooney, whom I love so much, and far from what he said, but the words do not affect us, nor do they motivate us more, because it is impossible to be more motivated than we are.”