Pep Guardiola and Rodri disagree over what Real Madrid tie means to Man City
By Sean Walsh
Rodri says Manchester City have the perfect shot at 'revenge' against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, going against sentiments made by his manager Pep Guardiola.
For a second-season running, Los Blancos stand between City and a place in the showpiece final.
Last year's meetings were two enthralling displays of top-level football. Though City dominated Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium, the English champions prevailed by just the one goal in a 4-3 thriller.
Back at the Bernabeu, Guardiola's men led 1-0 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate heading into second-half stoppage time, only for Rodrygo to score two incredibly late goals to send the game and the tie into extra-time.
Karim Benzema then scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot to send Real Madrid through, eventually toppling Liverpool to win their 14th European Cup.
At a pre-match press conference, Guardiola was keen to stress that this year's tie should not be about 'revenge'.
"It would be a huge mistake. We are not here for revenge," he said ahead of the first leg in Spain.
"What happened, happened. Always it happens in football because you deserve it.
"We did more than everything to reach the final but sometimes it's not enough. The lesson we can learn is to get a good result, perform well and have the opportunity to reach the final in the second leg in Manchester.
"Last year was tough, but we had an exceptional first game in Manchester and a really good game here. But it was not enough, you congratulate the opponent, accept it and now, one year later, we are here again.
"It's just another opportunity. One day we will get to the final and win it. It didn't happen last season as they [Madrid] know what they have to do in this competition."
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However, Rodri did not share Guardiola's train of thought, instead insisting that this is a great opportunity for Man City to banish their demons.
"We will have the chance for revenge. We have the philosophy that you can learn from past experiences. We did 180 minutes of brilliance [last year] but it wasn't enough. The last minutes in that second leg...we didn't handle it the right way," the midfielder said.
"You have to kill when you can. We respect [Real Madrid] - the king of this competition - but we have weapons. We are in a great moment and we are afraid of nothing. We are here to fight again and of course we have the hunger for revenge."
Man City record vs Real Madrid
Since returning to Europe's top table, Man City have chalked up a pretty respectable record against Real Madrid.
They have been impossible to split following eight meetings, with both sides taking three wins apiece and playing out two draws.
Prior to last year's second leg collapse, Man City had been on a three-match winning streak against Los Blancos having won the first leg as well as both matches in their last 16 tie in 2019/20.