Manchester City will have to play with courage to beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu | OneFootball

We know the equation Manchester City will face when it takes on Real Madrid at the Bernabeu tomorrow night. They simply must beat Carlo Ancelotti’s side to progress in the Champions League. Pep Guardiola’s side are staring at a 3-2 deficit following their defeat in the first leg of their Champions League knockout play-off first-leg fixture. To beat Real Madrid Manchester City must play with courage. That courage must also extend to Pep Guardiola’s team selection for the match tomorrow night.

Speaking during his pre-game press conference ahead of tomorrow night’s match Pep Guardiola explained that his team needs to play with courage at the Bernabeu. He explained: “You have to make an almost perfect game, obviously. The result is not the perfect situation. We have to attack and score goals, this is the idea. We will have to play an almost perfect game to go through. It’s the same going to Arsenal or Liverpool right now or Barcelona, the big teams qualified for the top eight, it is quite similar. It will be tough going away. Especially after the result we took in the first game.[We must] Play with courage. Be yourself.”

The path to victory for Manchester City appears to be clear. They must play with courage and play their game at the Bernabeu. If they can play as they did against Newcastle that is City’s path to victory against Real Madrid. It will take courage from the Manchester City players to play in that manner at the Bernabeu. But we have seen them do it before and they are capable. We know that and you do get the sense that City and Real Madrid both know this as well.

The courage that Pep Guardiola speaks of must also extend to his team selection. Manchester City have the attacking options to hurt Real Madrid. We potentially saw Manchester City’s best attack in full swing against Newcastle. Erling Haaland, Savinho, Omar Marmoush and Phil Foden look to be City’s best attacking options for now and the future. The time to play them on the big stage is tomorrow night. If they fire they could put Real Madrid to the sword. In midfield starting Nico is a must. That’s self explanatory and you’d assume he will start at the Bernabeu. It would also take courage to start Abdukodir Khusanov against Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo. But his speed and strength in challenge a could be vital. That will be an interesting story to watch for prior to kick off.

Manchester City must play with courage to get the result they require at the Bernabeu. That’s a given. But that courage must also extend to Pep Guardiola’s team selection. If they get both factors right it could set the scene for a famous night at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid for Pep Guardiola’s side.