IT JUST GOT REAL: Pep’s City must wen of waai in Madrid
WHEN Jude Bellingham ran on to Vinicius Jr’s chip kick to dab home the winner for Real Madrid at Manchester City last week, he shattered hearts at the Etihad Stadium.
Just a few minutes earlier the English champions had led 2-1 and were on the verge of beating the Spanish giants in the battle of the big guns in their Champions League last-16 playoff clash.
But things took a turn for the worse for City in the 86th minute when Brahim Diaz scored on the rebound to cancel out Erling Haaland’s double.
On Wednesday, coach Pep Guardiola’s manne are looking to return the favour when they tackle Real at the Santiago Bernabeu at 10pm.
Only victory will give City a chance to advance to the last 16 and after smashing Newcastle 4-0 at the weekend, coach Pep Guardiola is adamant they can make a fight of it.
He says: “This season the reality is we have been miles, miles away. If you tell me that we would perform like [we did against Newcastle] and finish 22nd in the Champions League [table], of course not. We would finish higher.”
Real boss Carlo Ancelotti also wants a repeat performance from his team - a repeat of what they did against City last week.
Ancelotti says: “We’re trying to repeat last week’s performance. It’s a fun tie where we have to give everything for 90 minutes.”
Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund (3) host Sporting Lisbon (0) at 7.45pm, PSG (3) welcome Brest (0) and Juventus (2) travel to PSV (1) at 10pm.