Last year City won the rare treble for the first time and midfielder Bernardo Silva is already dreaming of repeating it this year. “Of course it’s an inspiration and a motivation,” says the Portuguese. “We want to create a legacy. We want to win the Champions League twice in a row and two consecutive trebles, which no one has ever achieved. But within a week we could be eliminated from all three competitions.”

Last week, City and Real were held to a 3-3 draw in a spectacle in Madrid. Guardiola now wants City to focus on the second leg against Madrid as they are not easy to beat. “Real Madrid is not just an opponent. We have to impose our way of playing on them as much as possible. It’s always been a big game and always will be.”

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t want to dwell too much on his side’s previous defeats at Manchester City. “I think we kind of forgot what happened,” the coach said. “We are focused on tomorrow and thinking about what happened last week. Last match was exciting, now it could go either way. We believe we have the quality to cause Manchester City problems.”

Manchester City have been the winners on the previous three occasions the teams have played each other in England. “Games against City are always spectacular. This will be the same, “said the coach about the matches with coach Pep Guardiola’s team. Last year City won 4-0 at home after a 1-1 draw in Madrid.

However, the Italian coach added that City does not give him sleepless nights. “Nothing keeps me up at night unless I’ve eaten too much.”