Manchester City face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals at the Santiago Bernabéu. In a game that's worthy of a final, with the biggest club in world football taking on last year's Champions League winners, it sets up to be an absolute cracker.

Two legs of football between two of the best footballing sides on the planet is something that quite rightfully gets mouths watering.

The last time these two sides met in this competition was just under a year ago, when Manchester City thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 at the Etihad in the semi-final second leg, a gigantic victory on City’s journey to being crowned Champions of Europe for the first time in their history. 

Many are framing the game as revenge or repeat; however, Pep Guardiola downplayed that narrative: “It’s the quarter-final first leg; you have to focus on what you have to do, try to discover the strengths of our rival, and go for it.”

  • ‘Hey Jude’

Jude Bellingham has been a revelation at Real Madrid this season. Should Los Blancos go onto win the Champions League this season, he is sure to have an excellent claim towards the illustrious Ballon d'Or award. The midfielder dominates games with ease and will provide an unfathomable challenge to Manchester City’s midfield tomorrow, with the Englishman potentially being Rodri’s biggest challenge to date. 

Pep Guardiola expressed his admiration for the midfielder's talent, praising the 20-year-old's footballing brain. 

“We faced him once or twice when he was at Borussia Dortmund. He doesn’t just have the skills; the thing that makes the difference with him is his brain and the things he has in his mind.” 

The Catalan coach commended Carlo Ancelotti’s man management and talent identification conveying how the coach gets the best out of the former Birmingham midfielder.  

“He came to Madrid with exceptional players and a manager like Carlo, who has the incredible ability to know the exact best position to play a player in.” 

Touching on his first campaign at Madrid, Guardiola assessed Bellingham’s tremendous talent. 

“He’s had an incredible season in terms of his goals and assists and his presence in the box. That’s not just with Madrid; it’s with the English national team too. He has been brilliant. At just twenty years old, he has a long career ahead of him.” 

  • A decimated defence

Guardiola's upbeat tone quickly evaporated when addressing Manchester City’s missing defenders. The Citizens will be tasked with defending one of the quickest wingers in the world, Vincius Jr.

Usually, when coming up against pure pace, City can deploy Kyle Walker, like they have done when facing up against the likes of Mbappe, to man mark, and go one-on-one with the rapid wingers. However, the club from Manchester are without the right-back after he picked up an injury on international duty. 

To make matters worse, City’s rotational right-back, Josko Gvardiol is a doubt for the fixture, with Nathan Ake not even travelling with the squad. But, as Guardiola usually does, he vowed to find a solution. 

“Gvardiol has travelled, but he’s a doubt. It is what it is. Madrid are also missing: Courtois, Militão, and Alaba. 

“The best player to control someone like Vinicius, indeed, is Kyle [Walker]. But, unfortunately, he was injured in the friendly game, and it is what it is. We’d love to have him, but, what can I say? We play with eleven and try to adapt with the players. 

“Unfortunately, in the decisive part of the season, we have a lot of injuries in the back four, and we have to find solutions. We will think a bit more tonight about what we have to do and then try to get a good result for the second leg.”

  • Lighting doesn’t strike twice

Last season, two juxtaposing games of football took place between Manchester City and Real Madrid. Both teams were seeking a spot in the Champions League final, with the first leg being tight and the spoils being shared going into the decisive second leg at the Etihad.

The second leg saw a Manchester City masterclass, a complete and utter annihilation of the 14-time Champions of Europe. But, Pep Guardiola was insistent that last season has no bearing on tomorrow’s game. 

“It will be difficult to perform like that again. To beat Real Madrid twice in the same way is almost impossible. To beat them once in this competition is difficult; can you imagine two in a row? So the target isn’t easy. They learn because they have pride. They have to try to be smart tomorrow and then see what happens in the second leg.”

The Manchester City coach somewhat downplayed talks of European dominance, emphasising that just one Champions League win doesn’t write the club into the history books as European giants. But, Guardiola explained how his side are laying the foundations for the club to eventually reach such status. 

“We haven’t been flying in this competition for more than a decade, and that isn’t enough. Even for now, competing again is experience for our club. 

“People say, 'Once you have won it, it is done—no, absolutely not.' It’s not like the elite clubs: Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Inter Milan. The big, big clubs have played in this competition for forty, fifty, sixty, seventy years. We are, in terms of history, new. But we have the sense that we did it. And, of course, if we’ve done it once, we can do it again. 

“Being here again after what happened last season [winning the Champions League]. Being here again in the quarterfinals after an incredible group stage where we won all the matches, winning the last 16, and being here is really good for us.”