LONDON.- “I don’t have any specific plan, other than trying,” the coach of the team said this Monday. Manchester City, Pep Guardiolaon the eve of the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League against him real Madridagainst whom his team will have to overcome a 3-0 loss at home.
The English club fell in the first leg in Spain with a triplet of Federico Valverde and will have to achieve one of the greatest comebacks in history to reach the quarterfinals of a competition that Real Madrid has won fifteen times.
Is it possible? “No idea, I don’t know. It’s a game of soccermany things can happen. We have to focus on trying to win and then we’ll see what happens during the game. “I don’t have any specific plan, apart from trying,” Guardiola responded at a press conference.
We will have to play “the perfect match in all facets of the game”, without going on the attack from the beginning, he stressed.
“It would be easy to say: ‘Guys, we have to score three goals in the first twenty minutes,’ but you have to adopt a sustainable strategy for the entire match,” he continued.
“I’m not too worried about the chances we’re going to create, I’m sure we can do it at home. I’m more worried about how we’re going to defend,” Guardiola added.
Precedent that motivates them
For the strategist, with a past in Barcelona and the Bayern Munichwe must be inspired by the comeback achieved in May 2022 against the Aston Villa (3-2) on the last day of the championship Englandwhich meant the title.
“In the 74th minute we were 0-2 and we scored three goals in twelve minutes,” he recalled.
The coach decided to give his players a day of rest this Monday, contrary to what is usual on the eve of a match.
“I’ve done it once or twice this season, it’s not something new,” he explained.
Manchester City has already played four games in March, including the last one on Saturday in West Ham (1-1) in the Premier League.
This week, in addition, they will play the final of the League Cup in an expected duel on Sunday against the Arsenal at Wembley.
