Pep Guardiola has dismissed suggestions that his Manchester City players should form a guard of honour for La Liga champions Real Madrid in their crucial Champions League match on Wednesday. The Premier League side leads the semi-final 4-3 after a stunning first-leg triumph.
After clinching the Spanish league title over the weekend, Madrid will have plenty of momentum heading into the second game at the Bernabeu. Barcelona and Sevilla can no longer catch them after their 4-0 win over Espanyol.
Los Blancos have reclaimed the La Liga title from city rivals Atletico Madrid, who won it in a shock last season. Guardiola was asked by the Spanish media if City should applaud Madrid's players onto the pitch before the match on Wednesday, but the 51-year-old seemed perplexed by the concept.
When asked about Real Madrid by the Spanish press, Guardiola looked perplexed.
"I don't have an opinion on that," she says. Guardiola answered, "That's a question for UEFA." "I understand you're asking me about the league, about Real Madrid winning the title, but as the club's ambassador, which I am, we congratulate them, but this is the Champions League."
City is in its third Champions League semi-final appearance. They were defeated by Real Madrid in 2015-16, but they defeated PSG last season.
They lost to Chelsea in an all-Premier League match last May, and if they defeat their La Liga opponents, they could face another familiar opponent in Liverpool. Liverpool must also beat Villarreal, a Spanish team they lead 2-0 from the first game.
Guardiola believes his team must apply what they've learned from prior semi-final appearances. "What did you gain from this experience?" says the narrator. Every game in this tournament is unique. "It's impossible to make a comparison between last season and this season," the Spaniard concluded.
"It's about how my men get up in the morning, how they feel, and how they perform." We've been there before - and we've been there a lot - so that's fantastic. We've seen it before and know how to deal with it. It is beneficial. However, there is no assurance that we will play well. To go to the final, we have to give it our all."
"We can play much, much worse than we did [in the first leg] and still win," he concluded. Nobody can deny that I am correct; football is unpredictable, and you occasionally receive what you don't deserve. We have to do really well in these stages."
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