“Return from afar” or return to your homes

Manchester City, England, needs a miracle when it hosts Real Madrid, Spain, today (12:00 pm UAE time) in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League, while Paris Saint-Germain, the French champion, and Bayern Munich, Germany, will be in a comfortable position.

At Etihad Stadium, City will try to compensate for its first-leg loss to the record holder in the number of titles (15) with a clean hat-trick scored by Uruguayan Federico Valverde in the first half.

Spanish coach Pep Guardiola seems optimistic about the possibility of turning the tables on the Royal Club, which the Catalans have used as an example for comebacks from afar.

After the disappointing draw in the league, he said, addressing his players: “If they do not believe, this is a problem.” They are adults. They get paid well. If they don’t believe in that (returning from a distance) in the Champions League, let them go home, let them stay home. We have to try. What will we lose?

He continued: “Has Real Madrid never returned before in history? I don’t know how many matches… 50 matches in the Champions League, they have never come back from a 0-3 deficit? The result is difficult, of course, but we have to try, out of respect for the people, for the fans, and for our work, right?

Manchester City does not appear to be in a good technical and moral situation, as after the great fall in Madrid, it stumbled in the Premier League at West Ham 1-1, which allowed Arsenal to move away from it in the lead by nine points. This summit has become one of the classics of the parent European competition, as they have faced each other 11 times since the 2020 season, and 15 times in total since their first confrontation in the group stage of the 2013 season.

Last week, Real achieved its sixth victory in 16 confrontations with City, compared to five defeats and the same number of draws, and avenged its defeat to Guardiola’s men 1-2 in Madrid, in the sixth round of the unified group stage on December 10 last.

Real achieved the great victory despite the absence of nine key players due to injury, most notably its top scorer, Frenchman Kylian Mbappe, Englishman Jude Bellingham, and Brazilian Rodrigo.

Mbappe is expected to return to the team lineup, but it is likely that he will not start the match after the Frenchman, who has been absent since late February – due to a sprain in his left knee – participated in group exercises last Sunday.

On Saturday, coach Alvaro Arbeloa announced that Mbappe, who appeared in several photos and videos published by the club, would participate in the training session normally for the first time since his absence from facing Portuguese Benfica in the Champions League qualifier for the 16th round on February 25.