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Pep Guardiola name-dropped Real Madrid when he was asked why it's so difficult to win the Champions League.
The 51-year-old has won the competition on two occasions with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011 respectively but has now gone a decade without lifting the coveted prize.
He came closest to a third win in 2021 when City were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in an all-English final in Porto.
Since Guardiola's last win, Real have won the competition a further five times - the latest of which came last season when they went all the way under Carlo Ancelotti.
Los Blancos knocked City out in the semi-finals with two stoppage time goals and an extra time penalty from Karim Benzema in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, having staged incredible comebacks against Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain in previous rounds.
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Guardiola's City side bested Real in 2020 but he also succumbed to a 5-0 aggregate defeat when taking charge of Bayern Munich in 2014.
And although his City side are one of the favourites, Guardiola is always wary of Real in the Champions League.
"Because [Real] Madrid is always there," Guardiola told Viaplay when asked why winning the Champions League is so tough, before cracking a laugh.
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Guardiola did conquer Real in La Liga with his phenomenal Barcelona team but knows they have special, innate spirit and history in the Champions League.
On Tuesday night, the Spanish champions scored a 95th minute equaliser against Shakhtar Donetsk to qualify for the knockout stages with two games spare.
Antonio Rudiger put his head where it hurts to score the last-gasp goal from a Toni Kroos cross and required 20 stitches to fix a wound gushing with blood following a collision with goalkeeper.
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Real joined City in reaching the round of 16 despite the Premier League champions drawing 0-0 with Danish side Copenhagen.
City, with Erling Haaland on the bench, had a screamer from Rodri controversially disallowed by VAR for handball after review, before Riyad Mahrez missed a penalty and Sergio Gomez was sent off for a professional foul.
The Blues host Liverpool in a huge clash at Anfield on Sunday, with their next European fixture coming away to Borussia Dortmund on 25 October.
Topics: Pep Guardiola, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Champions League
Josh Lawless