Guardiola says Manchester City need ‘perfect game’ to get past Real Madrid

Manchester, England – Pep Guardiola has conceded that nothing short of a “perfect game” will allow Manchester City to claw back a 3-0 deficit when they host Real Madrid in Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg, but he insists his side will “try and try” to produce another Etihad miracle.

City were stunned at the Bernabéu last week as Madrid skipper Federico Valverde plundered a first-half hat-trick under head coach Álvaro Arbeloa, leaving the Premier League champions on the brink of elimination. Guardiola, who opted to rest his squad on Monday rather than stage the traditional eve-of-match media session, believes the tie is not yet beyond salvation—provided every department operates at maximum capacity.

“It has to be a perfect game in many senses and so we try and try,” Guardiola said. “It’s about the players, getting into perfect positions. We played with four or five strikers in the first leg and didn’t score a goal. Sometimes you play with two false 9s and score five goals. The idea is there—we have to try it.”

The Catalan coach cited City’s dramatic 3-2 comeback against Aston Villa on the final day of the 2021-22 campaign, when Ilkay Gündogan’s introduction sparked three goals in 14 minutes to snatch the Premier League title. “We made three goals in 14 minutes,” he recalled. “In other comebacks we did incredible things, but we conceded or goal difference [was decisive], or we were out for decisions from referees. It has to be a perfect game in many departments to make these kind of things.”

Historical precedent offers slim hope: only three clubs have overturned a three-goal knockout-round deficit in Champions League history—Deportivo La Coruña against Milan in 2003-04, Roma versus Barcelona in 2017-18, and Liverpool’s famous 4-0 ambush of Barcelona in 2018-19. Guardiola acknowledged the scale of the task yet refused to surrender belief.

“To score more than three goals against Madrid is not easy but we are here, it is a football game, everything can happen and we have to create as much momentum as possible with our people and do a good game and defend well. If we are able to be clinical and defend well, we will always be in the game.”

City’s preparation has been complicated by a potential UEFA sanction after Guardiola cancelled Monday’s open training, keeping players at home ahead of a light Tuesday-afternoon session. UEFA regulations require clubs to provide at least 15 minutes of training access for media if the standard eve-of-match workout is scrapped. “I prefer them to be at home,” Guardiola shrugged. “We will arrive at 2 pm on Tuesday, move a little on the legs and go. I did it two or three times this season.”

Across the divide, Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger—who famously subdued Erling Haaland during the 2023 semi-final in which City advanced 5-1 on aggregate yet the Norwegian drew a blank—relished the prospect of another duel. “In my first season they said no centre-back could beat him and I was one of them to keep up with him,” Rüdiger said. “I find it fantastic to play against him. Seems a good guy and a better footballer.”

Rüdiger, 33, also addressed the furore surrounding his clash with Getafe’s Diego Rico on 2 March, footage of which appeared to show a knee to the defender’s face. Rico labelled it “an assault”; Rüdiger countered that slow-motion replays exaggerated the incident. “It was never my intention to do it on purpose. I like to be tough on the pitch but I have boundaries.”

Team-sheet news favours the visitors marginally: Kylian Mbappé has shaken off a knee issue, whereas Jude Bellingham, though present in Manchester, remains sidelined with a hamstring complaint. “He wanted to come with his teammates,” Arbeloa confirmed. “He will continue in the training but won’t be in the side.”

City must therefore chase history without conceding, all while breaching a Madrid back line buoyed by a three-goal cushion. Guardiola’s message is simple: perfection or bust.