City aim to put Uefa ban out of mind in Madrid
Manchester City are fighting for their Champions League future on two fronts this week, with Kevin De Bruyne targeting a revenge mission against Real Madrid.
City will face Real in the first leg of their knockout tie at the Bernabeu on Wednesday with their short-term future in the competition uncertain as they prepare to contest Uefa’s charge for breaching financial fair play rules. With a twoyear Champions League ban and £25million fine hanging over them, City are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and that impending battle provides an unwanted backdrop to the games against the 13-time winners.
It is the one competition that Pep Guardiola has failed to win at City, as he is frequently reminded, but his players are determined to block out the off-field noise and make a huge statement by making it to the quarter-finals.
De Bruyne, their imperious midfielder, has never gone beyond the semi-final stage and was part of the team beaten by Real Madrid over two legs in the last four in 2016. He will be crucial for City in the Bernabeu and knows defeat in the last 16 will spark the annual headlines of a club falling short again.
“Well, if we don’t win it everybody is going to say we are failures like the last five years,” he said, laughing.
“It’s something we’ve not won yet. We always want to win everything, but sometimes another team is better or performing well – like Liverpool are doing this season [in the Premier League].
“Real have won the most Champions Leagues out of everybody. But I think we will go there to try to play our game like we always do and try to play offensive football, try to put them under pressure and try to have a good game and, if we can, win. You want to play at the highest level and obviously there’s a buzz when you play these kind of games. I think most of us have played these type of games so we know how to prepare ourselves.”
Guardiola has described the games against Real as “the real test”, and Saturday’s 1-0 win at Leicester was decent preparation as they extended the gap between themselves in second and their third-placed opponents to seven points. Substitute Gabriel Jesus finally beat the outstanding Kasper Schmeichel, who had earlier saved Sergio Aguero’s penalty, in the 80th minute to send Guardiola’s squad to the Spanish capital galvanised.
Raheem Sterling could also return after missing out on Saturday with a hamstring strain.
While City’s future in the competition is unclear, Leicester look set to return to the Champions League next season. They have a healthy lead over the chasing pack as manager Brendan Rodgers approaches his first anniversary in charge.
They should have had a first-half penalty when De Bruyne clearly handled James Maddison’s shot, while Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson was possibly fortunate to stay on the field after flattening Kelechi Iheanacho in the area.
Leicester are now preparing for the final 11 league games with defender Jonny Evans insisting they are ready for the challenge. “The target before the start of the season was to bring European football back to Leicester,” he said. “We’re all relishing the run-in.”