Perfect Game! Guardiola reveals How to Defeat Real Madrid

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes the club will need a “perfect game” against Real Madrid to overturn a three-goal deficit and reach the Champions League quarterfinals.

City lost losing 3-0 in the last-16 first leg at Santiago Bernabéu last week and must win by at least three goals at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.

Only three times in the past 20 years has a team come back from three goals down in the first leg to progress in the Champions League.

With City known for boosting top rank players, Guardiola believes his team must be flawless. To achieve victory.

Pep Guardiola, ), reacts during Manchester City FC Press Conference ahead of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg match at City of Manchester Stadium on March 16, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

“It has to be a perfect game in many, many departments,” Guardiola said at a news conference Monday. “Our people, the referee decisions — for many, many things, it has to be so good to make these kinds of things.

“We have to take more risks in terms of trying, but even if the result is not good in the first half, we have to keep going, carry on, go, because you never know. You never know.”

Guardiola is not a stranger to comebacks at Manchester City, he was in charge in 2022 when the citizen needed to beat Aston Villa on the final day of the season to win the Premier League.

Villa led 2-0 — a result which would have seen Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool crowned champions — before three goals in five minutes in the final stages earned City a fourth title in five years.

“Four years ago we were losing 2-0 at home against Villa in the 70th minute. In 10 minutes, we scored three goals,” Bernardo Silva recalled. “I know that this might look a bit stupid what I’m about to say, but when I watched back [the first leg in Madrid], I didn’t see a reason for us to be losing 3-0 at halftime. The result was much worse than the performance in my opinion.

“Obviously in football that counts zero, that counts for nothing. In football a lot can happen, so we shouldn’t lose our heads. Stay in the game and try to create that atmosphere that everyone believes it is possible.”

Ahead of the game, Guardiola took a blizzare decision, cancelling his pre-match training session and giving his players a day off.