Man City manager, Pep Guardiola has said that his players know “it does not take a genius” to know that his team must improve if they are to knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League.
The Citizens are already holding 2-1 lead from the first leg at Bernabeu. So, they will be hoping to complete the job at the Etihad Stadium.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, UEFA has restructured the Champions League quarter-final stage with one-legged affairs in Portugal. The winner will be taking on whoever prevails from the match-up between Juventus and Lyon.
After getting a favourable judgment from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) on Monday, which overturned their two-year Champions League ban, Man City has not been performing to expectation with a 2-1 slim win over relegation-threatened Bournemouth at the Etihad– the march Guardiola said his team doesn’t deserve to win.
Their week was done with a 2-0 loss to Arsenal in the semi-final of the FA Cup on Saturday in Webley and Guardiola was critical of his players’ performance.
Any hope for Man City in the Champions League?
With the Premier League trophy and FA Cup off their grasp, City will be looking forward to doing well in the Champions League after winning the EFL Cup in March.
Man City might hold a 2-1 advantage over Madrid but, Zinedine Zidan’s men could give the Citizens a run for their money at the Ettihad after dislodging Barcelona to the La Liga title during the midweek.
Madrid will be going into the tie on the back of ten straigh wins since returning from lockdown.
Speaking ahead of the clash, Guardiola said his lads know what is at stake.
“I don’t have to tell them. They know it, they feel it. We know the standards that we have to be on these kinds of stages, in these kinds of competitions. Maybe we are learning, maybe not. We will see.
“The last game against Bournemouth was not good and today the first half was not good. We struggled to play at our level.
“It does not take a genius to realize we have to increase our standard against Madrid if we want to have any chance to go through.”
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://futballnews.com/guardiola-it-doesnt-take-a-genius-to-know-that-man-city-has-to-improve-against-real-madrid/&media=https://futballnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GUARDIOLA-AR.png&description=Man City manager, Pep Guardiola has said that his players know "it does not take a genius" to know that his team must improve if they are to knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League.){kind=link}