Savinho: It’s a dream to play in City-Madrid clash | OneFootball

Savinho says it will be a dream come true to play against Real Madrid in the Champions League with Manchester City after so many classic encounters between the two sides in recent years.

But the brilliant Brazilian says he will be completely focused on progressing to the last-16 when we meet for our first leg on Tuesday 11 February.

City face the current holders for the fourth time in four years with the opening game at the Etihad at 20:00 (UK).

Our clashes have often been memorable matches in recent years with the winners going on to lift the trophy on the last three occasions.

Savinho faced Madrid last season as he helped Spanish side Girona qualify for the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history and knows what a dangerous side they can be.

“As I mentioned to my family, I’ll be fulfilling a dream,” the winger said. “I always watched Manchester City vs Real Madrid on the TV back when I was playing for Atletico Mineiro, and now, I get to be here living this moment.

“There was nowhere to run, it was either Bayern [Munich] or Real Madrid, two great teams, and we got Real Madrid.

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“I spoke to Bernardo [Silva] and even to Real Madrid players while on international duty with them, and they said sometimes because of the strength of their badge, let’s say they’re trailing 2-0, 3-0 and the game is not over, they know they can do what they did in the last Champions League campaign at any time – pull off a comeback in the final five minutes of the match.

“So, we must remain focused and score goals when we get the opportunities, as that will be quite important, too.

“It’s a lesson I learned at Girona. We played really, really well, but we didn’t convert our chances, and when an opportunity presented itself to them, they killed the game off.”

Our clash with Real comes a little earlier in the competition than we have been accustomed to, with our last three encounters in the quarter-finals and two semi-finals.

Savinho says City have to be careful and try to make it into the top-eight if we qualify for the Champions League in the future.

“I think we, as Manchester City, can’t play in the play-offs,” he added.

“We should be getting into the next round more convincingly and not find ourselves in a play-off against Real Madrid – and it’s worth mentioning that Real Madrid, with all the weight their shirt carries, shouldn’t be in the play-offs either, with all due respect to the other teams.

“So, we have to be very careful in that regard.”