Not necessary to say how good Real Madrid is but we will try to be ourselves, claims Pep Guardiola

Manchester City will look to end their lifelong quest of claiming Champions League glory this season as they look to make a strong end to the current campaign. The Cityzens will be hoping to progress into the finals of the European competition as they did in the previous campaign where they suffered the ignominy of suffering a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.

The reigning Premier League champions encounter 13-time European champions Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the competition and host the Spanish side at the Etihad Stadium for the first leg of the fixture on Tuesday. 

This is the third time in seven seasons that City have reached the last four while Madrid are in the semi-finals for the 10th occasion in 12 years and are aiming to win the tournament since their last triumph in 2018.

City coach Guardiola dismissed suggestions that his side can be compared to Madrid in terms of their historical achievements although he revealed that his side will do everything in their power to overcome them to guarantee entry into the finals.

"It is not necessary to say how good Real Madrid are. If we have to compete with their history, we don't have any chance. The history is there, we can't change it, but it's 11 against 11 with  one ball moving. We will try to be ourselves, compete well. We need to play two exceptional games to reach the final,” Guardiola told in a press conference.

“The players will decide this. We are playing a team who have been here many times, that’s why they have this history and we don’t. We can’t imagine what is going to happen but it’s 11 v 11 so it is about how the players move, how strong they are mentally, that will make the difference,” he added.