Pep Guardiola reacts to Champions League Round of 16 draw against Real Madrid

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes his club’s repeated clashes with Real Madrid have become a masterclass in European football, after the pair were drawn together in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 for another installment of their modern rivalry.

Speaking to reporters following Monday’s draw, Guardiola welcomed the reunion with the 14-time champions, insisting familiarity breeds improvement. “Yes, our club learns and improves by playing against the best teams in the history of this competition,” he said.

The upcoming tie marks the latest chapter in a recent sequence of high-stakes meetings. City edged Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu during this season’s league phase, yet Los Blancos turned the tables in last season’s knockout playoff, recording a 3-2 win at the Etihad and a commanding 3-1 victory on home soil to advance.

Across 28 encounters with Madrid while in charge of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now Manchester City, Guardiola has collected 14 wins, six draws and eight defeats, with his sides outscoring the Spanish giants 59-44. Those numbers underline the razor-thin margins expected when the clubs meet again next month.

The victor of the two-legged Round of 16 tie will move on to face either Atalanta or Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, setting the stage for another potential heavyweight collision later in the competition.