IT’S A REAL GUN FIGHT
Ilkay admits Madrid clash will be City’s toughest test
ILKAY GUNDOGAN reckons Manchester City face one of their toughest challenges to beat 13-time winners Real Madrid and reach the Champions League final.
City lead 4-3 going into tomorrow night’s semi-final second leg at the Bernabeu after an epic encounter at the Etihad in which Pep Guardiola’s side three times blew a two-goal lead.
With such a slender advantage, and with Real having staged epic comebacks in previous rounds to beat Paris Saint-germain and Chelsea, midfielder Gundogan reckons City have it all to do in the Spanish capital.
“We’re going to play in a great stadium against a great team,” said Gundogan. “They’re one of the greatest teams in history so you can feel how much of a challenge it is.
“It’s the second time in a row that we’ve reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and it’s huge for the club, but I feel like there’s still a long way to go.
“We want to make it better than last year, so we’re going to be prepared for Wednesday. We’re full of confidence and I’m sure it’s going to be a great game.”
Guardiola was able to rest key players, including Kevin De Bruyne, for City’s easy 4-0 win at Leeds on Saturday, with Gundogan acknowledging the importance of arriving fresh for such big games.
“We have to be in great shape,” said the German international.
“If you want to compete on this kind of stage, you need to take care of yourself and you need to be the best possible version of yourself.
“Not just individually, but also as a team. We changed the team a little bit and had quite a few players come in who didn’t play against Madrid in the week.
“It’s important for everyone to be ready for this game, that’s going to help us to maintain that level.”
Aymeric Laporte echoed the words of Gundogan and admitted City would like to be taking a bigger lead to Madrid given their dominance a week ago, when Karim Benzema (left) almost single-handedly kept the Spaniards in the tie.
“We played a very good match in the first leg,” said defender Laporte, “but we would have liked to finish with a bigger margin.
“We know Madrid have history in this competition but we are going there confident that we will secure qualification for the Champions League final.”
Real are expected to be without key defender David Alaba. The Austrian star, who came off injured in the first leg, did not train yesterday.