REALITY CHECK
Beating Euro kings Madrid does not get you the crown warns Pep
PEP GUARDIOLA has warned his Manchester City players that knocking European kings Real Madrid out of the Champions League does not make them heirs to the throne.
City face Lyon in tonight’s quarterfinal in Lisbon after eliminating 13-time champions Madrid in the last round.
They have been installed as bookies’ favourites to lift the Champions League trophy for the first time in next week’s final – and Guardiola said his team could not be better prepared despite the absence of striker Sergio Aguero.
But Guardiola is taking nothing for granted. He said: “Of course it was so important to beat the kings of this competition. But when you play just one game, everything can happen. I
think in this competition there are no favourites.
“Every single game is a final, but we are ready and we will do our best performance to try to go through.
“In England, 200 when you play in the FA Cup or the Carabao Cup it is just one game.
“So our players are used to these games. There is no second chance. You are in or you’re out.”
With Aguero still in Barcelona undergoing rehabilitation following a knee operation, City have been stripped of their record goalscorer.
Gabriel Jesus will lead Guardiola’s attack against a Lyon team who took four points off City in the group stages two years ago.
Guardiola said: “I don’t expect that it will be one side on top for 90 minutes. There will be moments when we have to suffer.
“There are moments we will control and there will be moments when they attack and we have to defend deep.
“We have to be strong in our minds and try to do our plan.
“These games are about the mentality and the spirit – and I think the players are ready to do it.”