Man City manager Pep Guardiola will return to Madrid for the second time this season, hoping to block out the clamor that surrounds football in his birthplace. Pep Guardiola was keeping his cards close to his chest ahead of Manchester City’s massive Champions League showdown with Real Madrid.
Despite a steady run of huge matches that threaten to derail City’s European and Premier League ambitions, the City coach has been relatively relaxed in recent weeks.
Guardiola, meanwhile, must be almost as cautious off the field as he is on it as he returns to the Spanish city for the second time in four weeks. When asked about Luka Modric’s comments that if Madrid plays their best game, they will advance, Guardiola slammed the door in his face. When asked if it was a good moment to play Carlo Ancelotti’s side after they had just won the Spanish crown, he replied: “The league exists independently of the Champions League.” I don’t have an opinion on the subject.
Guardiola made the remark in response to a series of perplexing and malicious questions about City providing a guard of honour to Madrid after they won La Liga. Guardiola will be overjoyed if City’s defense is as impenetrable as his pre-match replies for the second leg at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
He has enough on his mind, including aiming to win the European Championship. As injuries begin to affect his squad, he must juggle a Premier League and Champions League challenge while also devising a tactical plan to beat Madrid and stop the threat of Karim Benzema, as well as silence the Bernabeu crowd, which has roared Los Blancos to victories over PSG and Chelsea in previous rounds.
As Guardiola puts it, there is “more noise” around important games in Spain than there is in the Premier League, and he wants to do everything he can to reduce the volume. The further City progress in Europe each season, the higher the chances of a trip to Madrid and the increasing scrutiny that comes with it for the former Barcelona coach.
This time, fate has brought me to the Spanish capital for a second time. The fascination with football in Guardiola’s birthplace can be both distracting and overwhelming, ranging from television chat programs to inflammatory sports coverage. It’s a long cry from the safe haven of the Etihad Campus, where he and his coaches can work without fear of being photographed.
Guardiola managed to keep John Stones out of his side’s open-to-the-press training session ahead of the first leg, bringing him out only after the press had all left.
It’s a stark contrast to his time at Camp Nou, where the job’s stress and pressure prompted him to quit the team he grew up supporting and take a year off to heal. It’s also one of the reasons he’s unlikely to return to Spain as a coach, so his time at the Etihad Stadium might extend beyond the summer of 2023 when his current deal expires.
Despite a clear cultural conflict between the two teams, Guardiola tried his utmost to avoid anything that could be considered controversial in the quarter-finals against Atletico Madrid.
After an ultra-defensive effort at the Etihad, where the Rojiblancos failed to score, he extolled Atleti’s virtues. Attacking a 5-5-0 in prehistory, now, and in 100,000 years is extremely difficult. ” After winning the first leg, he said It’s because there aren’t any. There is no gap, other than from the fact that they are fierce competitors and excellent defenders. “
The word is used “When the phrase “prehistory” caused controversy, Atleti captain Koke replied on Instagram, writing, “In love with your tale since prehistory.” I’m proud to be an Atletico player. ” Diego Simeone was visibly upset during an ill-tempered and tight second leg, in which the Spanish side posed the greater threat.
“Those with a large vocabulary are often quite intelligent and treat you with contempt,” the Argentine explained. Those of us with a limited vocabulary, on the other hand, are not.
City used their increasing amount of European experience to survive an uncomfortable encounter at the Wanda Metropolitano, but it was a frustrating subplot to what had been an intriguing second leg. Even for Atleti and Simeone, it was sad that their tremendous efforts went unnoticed, as the Spanish media swiftly turned their attention to the city manager and his tactics. Guardiola is obviously not without criticism at Cit, but the criticism of him in England is a lot less corrosive, and the supporters are far less demanding.
Pep Guardiola’s coaching history.
