“I have a tension, nervous” – Pep Guardiola hints towards tactical ‘adjustments’ ahead of Real Madrid showdown | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has hinted towards making tactical adjustments to his squad for the meeting with Real Madrid on Wednesday night.

The reigning champions of Europe welcome Los Blancos with the scoreline finely poised from the quarter-final first-leg meeting in Madrid last week, with the two sides having played out an enthralling 3-3 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Bernardo Silva’s stunning opener inside two minutes was cancelled out by a Ruben Dias own goal and a Rodrygo effort on the counter-attack, while the second-half brought three outstanding goals from Phil Foden, Josko Gvardiol, and Federico Valverde.

Despite the large majority of Manchester City fans being more than satisfied with the showing from their side in the Spanish capital, manager Pep Guardiola has been far more critical in the lead up to Wednesday evening’s meeting.

Speaking ahead of Manchester City’s quarter-final second-leg clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday night, Guardiola admitted that his side will need to perform ‘better’ than the first-leg and as such, he will be ‘adjusting something’.

“Honestly, we will have to do better than in Madrid if we want to go through,” Guardiola told TNT Sports. “We were fantastic, 3-3 is an incredible result, the guys gave everything, but we have to adjust something that was not as good as we should do.

“But at home, we feel comfortable in trying to adjust it. The excitement is huge. I have a tension; nervous and happiness and all the mix of feelings I have right now. I have now prepared the last training before the game and with our people, we are safe.”

Pep Guardiola continued with messages to Manchester City’s supporters, “We will be, I think, sold out and I just ask them [the fans], in the bad moments, support us. Make some noise. Be there all the time until the end.

“The guys [players] deserve it. The chance to do it four times in a row, that proves that what they have done for this club. They deserve the support unconditionally.”

Pep Guardiola has been boosted by the return of a number of players to full first-team training this week and Manchester City as such will have a complete roster of players available for selection at the Etihad Stadium.

Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake offer further possibilities in the full-back roles, with the former known to be a challenging opponent for Real Madrid’s wingers. John Stones has also returned having been deemed ‘not fully-fit’ against Luton Town on Saturday afternoon.