Pep Guardiola currently manages Manchester City but throughout his career as both a player and coach, he has maintained a legacy as one of the greatest tactical minds in history. Real Madrid fans can certainly say this now he is no longer the manager of bitter rivals, Barcelona.
Pep Guardiola has always been known to respect his opposition. As one of the greatest football minds, he knows when to take a step back and applaud fellow coaches in Europe. This has been the case yet again, with his latest Real Madrid admission.
Pep Guardiola makes shocking Real Madrid admission
According to the English outlet Manchester Evening News, Pep Guardiola has named the three teams he would not like to face in the Champions League quarterfinal (with the quarterfinal draw set to take place in the next hour). Those three teams outlined by Pep Guardiola include Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
Last season, Manchester City met Real Madrid in the semifinal of the competition. Although the 1st leg was a close affair and stalemated at 1-1, Manchester City comfortably won the 2nd leg by a trancing scoreline of 4-0. It was a repeated fixture of the previous semifinal, where Real Madrid edged past Man City. Therefore, it's remained pretty even between the two sides in recent history.
Manchester City are yet to face challenging competition in the Champions League this season, whereas Real Madrid got a taste of it in their round of 16 fixture against RB Leipzig, where Ancelotti's men narrowly edged through.
Of course, Real Madrid are having a stellar season, both domestically and continentally. It is still too early to say, but there's a feeling that this season could be the time where Los Blancos take their authority back on European football.
What do you make of Pep Guardiola's Real Madrid admission?