Manchester City need a huge victory over Real Madrid and Pep Guardiola knows exactly how good his team must be to pull off such a triumph.
The Champions League feels almost out of sight for Manchester City, unless they can deliver their strongest performance of the season on Tuesday night.
Pep Guardiola will be feeling discouraged after yet another setback at the weekend when his team were held to a draw by West Ham.
However, there is still a chance for Man City and Guardiola has outlined exactly what they must do to seal a dramatic comeback at the Eithad Stadium.
Manchester City’s performance must be perfect
For Guardiola, Man City’s game plan is simple – create chances, score goals and defend well. Of course, this is not so easy to do in practice.
The City manager knows how strong his team will need to be in every area of the pitch and in his own words, they need a ‘perfect game’.
Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference: Yeah. Definitely. No [not looking to surprise Madrid]. Sometimes when you play two false nines you score four or five.
“We arrive there to try and score. Perfect game in many ways. We have to try and try and always we can create chances. We know each other. We need to be clinical and defend well.”
Man City must have the right mindset
Tuesday’s fixture is not merely about which team possesses the most quality, but also who has the most mental resilience.
Man City have to approach the game knowing exactly what is at stake and adjusting accordingly. Belief is a requirement and this has to be matched with a winning mentality.
Guardiola continued: “After ten years if I have to explain to our players belief we are trouble. I am pretty sure we will try. Some players are new, not the same group but it is an incredible chance.
You have to be mentally strong, it is more than 90 minutes. I am not concerned about chances, we are going to make them. It is not easy but we are here, it is a football game. We need to do a good game.”
Whether Man City have what it takes to defeat Real Madrid remains to be seen, but all will become clear soon enough as the teams do battle tomorrow for the final time this season.
