For the neutral viewer, Real Madrid - Manchester City is a superstar. However, for both teams, this clash could not be more difficult and of greater importance.
The Spanish club finished the second in Group A and set up a meeting with one of the Champions League semifinals, with only Leipzig RB looking to be a desirable contender in the presence of Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Juventus, and Manchester City. The English champion could still face Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli or Lyon, except against Los Blancos after winning his Group C.
Both teams pulled the short draw on Monday in Nyon. It is often said that in order to win the European Cup, you have to beat the best and often this is the case. However, you don`t have to beat the best so early in your journey to glory.
City and Madrid met in the Champions League semifinals in the 2015/16 season, when the Spaniards prevailed with a 1:0 total in a tussle clash, resolved by Fernando`s own goa l at Santiago Bernabeu. Subsequently, they won the finals and the first of three consecutive European cups under the leadership of Zinedine Zidane, and that same summer the citizens began their new era with the departure of Manuel Pellegrini and the long-awaited arrival of Josep Guardiola.
With Zidane at the head of Madrid and Guardiola on the City bench, the two teams face off against each other only in pre-season preparation, as the Premier League team would win 4-1 at Los Angeles in the summer of 2017 (Braim Diaz, today a white player, signed for the English). There is little that can be learned from such controls and this will have no bearing on the upcoming clashes in February and March next year. However, it is clear how important this test is for both coaches.
For Zidane, that will be the benchmark for how far his team has come since returning to the bench after a vacation after the third European Cup. After Ajax`s elimination of the semifinals in the previous edition of the tournament, then Santiago Solari was in charge, now club analyzed by gallery of ronaldo president Florentino Perez is expecting and pushing for a further hike. Winning the La Liga title would take some of the pressure on Zidane, but Perez wants at least a semifinal in the MLS. Madrid finished second in their group in 2016/17 and 2017/18, then eliminated Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain respectively. But then Cristiano Ronaldo had los Blancos, and today he is in Juventus. That is why the clash with Manchester City will be the barometer for the team`s progress after the departure of the Portuguese super men and Zidane`s return.
As for Guardiola, this is another opportunity for him to show that he can be successful in a race that he won twice as a Barcelona head coach. After three consecutive semi-final bouts with Bayern, the Santpedor spe cialist failed in a mission to take the citizens even beyond the quarter-finals. The ejections from Monaco, Liverpool and Tottenham over the past three seasons and the failure to win the biggest European trophy since 2011 have raised huge criticism and suspicion about Pep. Even piles of home trophies in the period didn`t save him.
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