Guardiola: “What I would have liked to play with Zidane!”

Pep Guardiola, coach of Manchester City, assured in an interview with Dazn that if there is a team capable of turning the Champions League tie on August 7 next, it is Real Madrid.

“We have a good result from the first leg. If we play with that result, we will have many difficulties to pass. We have to try to get to the 95th minute saying that it was us with the good and the bad that the team has, “said the Spanish coach, who will start with a 1-2 harvested at the Santiago Bernabéu.

“You don't have to think too much about the advantage we have. We know what an advantage it is. If there is a team that can turn it around, it is these great teams, as well as Barcelona or Bayern. They know these competitions and they know how to play them. “

On his rival on the bench on August 7, Zinedine Zidane, Guardiola only had flattery. “As a player it was, wow! What I would have liked to play with him! I had the misfortune to find myself against the French team. It does football very well in good times and bad and I'm glad. Although people can't believe it, because he's from Real Madrid, I'm very happy that things are going well because it's very good for football that things go well for people like him. “

“If he has done what he has done, winning three Champions in a row, taking two Leagues from Barça when Barça in this decade has dominated this competition like no club in the world, it shows their ability,” he added.

On whether Klopp's Liverpool has been the toughest opponent he has ever faced, he said: “Yes, by far. The toughest opponent I've ever faced in my career is this Liverpool from last year and this one. Master all records. If you let yourself be dominated, he locks you in the area and you don't go out. When you dominate them, they run into space like no one else. They are very fast going backwards. They are very strong in strategy. Players have great mental strength. He is the rival who has made me think about how to beat him the most. I have always said that Real Madrid is a very strong team in history, which has helped me to be a better coach with tough matches and competitions with Jose Mourinho, Pellegrini and all the coaches he has had. If you tell me which has been the most difficult rival for me to decipher and treat it, it has been Liverpool. This does not mean that winning is easier. The first years of Liverpool when I arrived in England was a team a bit smaller than now and Real Madrid was stronger. Now, this Liverpool is the hardest I have come across in my coaching career. ”