Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is wary of the one that got away as he faces off with Jude Bellingham’s Real Madrid in tonight’s 9pm Champions League quarterfinal first.
Guardiola tried to convince the England ace to join his treble-winning machine last year, but the 20-year-old midfielder decided to move to the Santiago Bernabeu – tonight’s battleground – from Borussia Dortmund.
City klapped Real 5-1 on aggregate in last season’s semifinal, drawing 1-1 in Spain.
But with 20 goals in 29 appearances for Los Blancos, Bellingham has boosted coach Carlo Ancelotti’s manne and Guardiola has warned his team to be at their best to get past the 14-time European Cup winners.
He says: “Bellingham’s impact has been massive. It’s a different team from last season. His influence is obvious, and we have to try to discover what he does to control it.
“Facing Real Madrid is always a tough challenge, nobody can deny it.
“They are an exceptional club and they can control many things with the experience they have in the past.”
Real, meanwhile, know they will have their hande vol with City’s attacking ysters Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne all hitting form in the last week.
Defender Antonio Rudiger says: “It was a good home game last year at the Bernabeu. We all did a good job keeping Haaland at bay.
“The plan for this match is going to be the same as last year, trying to control their most complicated and dangerous players like De Bruyne, Foden or Haaland.”