Guardiola Backtracks on Manchester City’s Champions League Prospects

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has walked back his earlier comments about his team’s chances against Real Madrid in the Champions League. After initially claiming City had only a 1% chance of advancing, Guardiola now admits he was being overly pessimistic.

“I wasn’t being entirely truthful before,” Guardiola said with a smile. “We’re certainly underdogs coming to the Bernabeu, but we’ve had success here previously. We’ll aim to put some pressure on them and see what happens.”

While more optimistic now, Guardiola still believes City will need to play an almost perfect match to overturn their 3-2 deficit from the first leg. He emphasized the need for courage and attacking football, saying “We must go for goals. You have to be brave and play to win.”

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti dismissed Guardiola’s original 1% assessment, though he acknowledged his team’s slight advantage. “We certainly don’t think we have a 99% chance of advancing,” Ancelotti said. “We have a small edge, but must maximize it.”

City will be buoyed by the fitness of striker Erling Haaland, who has been cleared to play despite a recent knee issue. The English side have been prolific lately, scoring 33 goals in their last 10 matches across all competitions.

However, history favors Real Madrid. They have advanced in this competition after winning the away leg first in all but one previous instance. City will need to replicate their 2020 victory at the Bernabeu to keep their Champions League hopes alive.