SCARED? ARE YOU MADRID?
PEP Guardiola has told European kings real Madrid he’ll never be scared of them.
The Spanish giants stand between Manchester City and a place in the Champions League semi-finals.
City and Real shared a sixgoal thriller in the quarterfinal, first leg last week – and are expected to stage another classic at the Etihad tonight.
Guardiola admits facing Real as a manager has always been one of his biggest challenges.
His strong association with Real’s bitter rivals Barcelona has seen him become obsessed with beating them.
Guardiola has looked rattled when taking on Real in the past – and even complained about the state of the pitch in the Bernabeu last week.
But in a move that is sure to light the blue touch paper, Guardiola insists he’ll never be frightened of facing the 14-time winners. The City boss, who is expected to recall captain Kyle Walker, said: “I don’t fear them.
“I respect them a lot and I’ve faced them many times. But I’m not going to talk great things about them.
“And if I say I’m scared of them I would be false. I spoke of the condition of the pitch, with the best wishes in the world. You can believe what you want when I say that.
“There’s the rivalry. You want to beat them and do well – and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
“I’m not scared of them and if they beat me – as has happened many times – we will say ‘congratulations’ and wish them well.”
Bernardo Silva admits City started this season with the mother of all hangovers.
But he’s now convinced Guardiola’s men can finish this one with a double Treble to celebrate.
The midfielder said: “From a team that won a Treble, came back on a bit of a hangover but then has hunger to go every three days, it is not easy.
“We want to create that legacy. To win another Premier League to make six in seven years – and four in a row.
“We want to win the Champions League to win two in a row. Only Madrid did three in a row. And if we win two Trebles in a row, that would be a legacy.”
Jude Bellingham will be a major threat to City’s dream tonight. And the England star insists he has no regrets at snubbing the Treble winners.
City wanted to sign him from Dortmund last year but the 20-year-old insisted it was a “no-brainer” to move to Spain.
“I had good chats with clubs, including Dortmund,” said Bellingham. “I spoke with other teams but when Madrid came in it was a no-brainer.
“The size of the club, the project, the chance to play with such amazing players. I just jumped at it.”
Bellingham also called on football’s authorities to do more to address “disgusting” racist abuse, with team-mates Vinicius Junior and Aurelien Tchouameni targeted by fans. He said: “It’s disgusting. It shouldn’t happen.
“The people in power need to do more. The game would miss players like Vini if he decided to take a break because of this. It’s a massive
issue.”