MADRID, 10 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola, stated that he “prefers” to play the second leg against Real Madrid at the Etihad “because of past experiences” and avoided saying that his team is a “favorite” to pass the tie, although he believes that the public will “support them.”
“I prefer the return home due to past experiences. In these situations you cannot take away favoritism from the ‘king’ of the competition. The favorite will be the one who imposes his game the most, but our people are going to support us. I have a very good opinion of Real Madrid to think that it is not going to be an open tie,” commented the Catalan coach in a press conference after drawing (3-3) the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
Guardiola is clear that, “no matter how well you do” at the Bernabéu, Real Madrid “will always” have opportunities to “run.” “We have to try to be a little better in the final third, but I knew it was going to happen, which has happened more than usual due to errors by very reliable players. We had the game more or less under control in the second half and “Their talent tied the game,” he added.
“It was an entertaining match that dignified the competition. We both attacked, there were incredible goals of great quality. Real Madrid and the Bernabéu is special. We took the result and within a week the stadium will be full. There we have to do our job and reach the semi-final,” praised the Sampedor coach.
Guardiola confessed that at the beginning of the game they tried to “spoil the ball” but that they lost “a lot of balls”, something that improved after the break. “In the second half we were very good, and scoring three goals at the Bernabéu is very difficult,” he said.
The City coach stressed the idea that his team is still immersed in a “learning process” in the Champions League. “This result and this match before would not have been like this. It is essential to be stable in bad moments, because if you try to play at the Bernabéu with the idea that the match is going to develop normally in 90 minutes you are going to be wrong. We needed to experience the comeback of two years ago here to realize these things,” he explained.
Guardiola was full of praise for the ‘new’ Bernabéu, although he complained about the state of the grass. “That’s what my players have told me. The field is spectacular, it’s an impressive piece of work, but when I played it was a carpet and today it wasn’t like that,” he stated.
Regarding Vinícius’ position further inside, the Catalan coach confessed that he was surprised by his disposition on the field. Furthermore, he confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne was going to start the game, but that today he “wasn’t feeling well” and had “vomited” before the game.
Finally, he gave his opinion on the performance of Phil Foden, scorer of City’s second goal with “talent”. “We didn’t find him in the first half, and he didn’t have his best game. I think the blow at the end of the game was nothing, he was angry when I substituted him, so I think he’s fine,” he concluded.