Guardiola accepts visitors have just 1% chance of getting through

Pep Guardiola says Manchester City have a ‘one per cent chance’ of overturning their 3-2 deficit against Real Madrid and advancing to the last 16 of the Champions League.

City led 2-1 late on at the Etihad Stadium last week but goals from Brahim Diaz and Jude Bellingham saw the European champions hit back to claim an advantage heading into the second leg of their knockout phase playoff at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday night.

Next up: a trip to the Bernabeu 📍#AsahiSuperDry 🤝 pic.twitter.com/0v9MtbmOJc

— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 17, 2025

Even the best version of Guardiola’s City would struggle to get through, never mind the 2024-25 side which has underwhelmed for much of the season.

Guardiola said: “The margin to win in Bernabéu in that position [3-2 down], everybody knows that if you ask before the game, the percentage to go through, I don’t know, we arrive at one per cent, or I don’t know what.

“It will be minimal, but as much as you have a chance, we will try, that’s for sure, you know? The chance is minor because the result was not good – five minutes ago, with 2-1, it would be different.

“But with 2-3, the chance is less, but as much as you have a chance, we are going to take it, and we’ll see what happens.”

We have been miles away – Pep

City will, at least, travel to Spain on the back of a morale-boosting win after thrashing fellow Premier League top-four hopefuls Newcastle 4-0 on Saturday.

But Guardiola accepts it has been a poor season by their lofty standards.

“There are many, many games that we didn’t play the level we play, and at the end, we lost it,” Guardiola said.

“And that was not just the three points, it’s how it is affecting our minds for the next game.

“It happened a lot of times. This season, the reality is that we have been miles, miles away.”