Pep faces Bellingham dilemma as City boss devises plan to ‘control’ Madrid star
PEP GUARDIOLA admits he has a huge headache over how to stop Jude Bellingham.
Manchester City and Real Madrid will face each other for the third year in a row, this time in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
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But this time City have to deal with Bellingham. Asked about the Three Lions star, Guardiola said: “The impact has been huge.
“It’s a different team than last season. His influence is clear, we have to try to discover what he does and keep it under control.”
The Euro heavyweights have met in the semi-finals the past two years.
Madrid went on to win the competition in 2022, with City lifting the trophy for the first time last season.
Bellingham, however, brings a new dimension: the England ace has scored 20 goals in 31 games for Madrid since joining from Borussia Dortmund last summer.
The first leg will take place on April 9 at the Santiago Bernabeu, the same evening that Arsenal host Bayern Munich.
The return matches are on April 17. And there is no delay for the winners: they will play against each other in the semi-finals!
While Guardiola’s men are defending champions, the City boss knows they are still rookies compared to their Spanish rivals.
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Real have won the Champions League in five of the past ten seasons.
Guardiola added: “It seems a bit of a tradition to play against the kings of the competition three years in a row.
“Now that they have won 14 Champions Leagues, there is no need to say how Real Madrid are performing in this competition.
“It’s a bit new for us. For Real Madrid it is not special to play the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
“Over the last few years we have been consistent – often semi-finals, finals, now quarter-finals again – and we are getting into this routine in the latter stages.
“And when you play the latter stages, you are playing against the best teams in Europe, Real Madrid are right there.
“This one is special and makes you feel like you are going to Europe and playing your best football. It is so nice.”
In the other half of the draw, Jadon Sancho’s Borussia Dortmund put Atletico Madrid into the quarter-finals, while Paris Saint-Germain took on Barcelona.