Follow minute-by-minute updates in our dedicated Man City vs Real Madrid match blog; Pep Guardiola has not won the Champions League since 2011
Manchester City’s bid to win their first Champions League title pits them against Real Madrid in the last four on Tuesday night.
This is City’s 11th Champions League campaign; they have been involved in the group stage every season since 2011/12 and have now reached the knockout rounds in nine successive campaigns.
Former Barcelona boss Guardiola, who has won the Champions League twice but not since 2011, says he has learned to live with a perception that he needs to win the competition.
Yet the club’s long-held European ambitions remained unfulfilled last season as City fell short in the continent’s showpiece final, losing to Chelsea in Porto – one of many City mishaps in the closing stages of a Champions League campaign under Guardiola.
There was the naivety against Monaco in 2017, the chaos against Liverpool in 2018 and the caution against Tottenham when Kevin De Bruyne was left on the bench in 2019. Against Lyon in 2020, Guardiola decided to play Rodri and Fernandinho and his side were eliminated.
Just under 11 years have now passed since Guardiola last won the biggest club game in European football.