How do you prepare to overturn a 3-0 deficit to the mighty Real Madrid in the Champions League?
If you are Pep Guardiola, you give your players the day off.
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Manchester City's Bernardo Silva speaks during a press conference in Manchester, England, Monday March 16, 2026, one day ahead of their Champions League soccer match against Real Madrid. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola looks on during a press conference in Manchester, England, Monday March 16, 2026, one day ahead of their Champions League soccer match against Real Madrid. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola sits on the bench before a first leg round of 16 Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester City in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. ((AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, center, watches from the stands during the Premier League soccer match against West Ham United, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in London. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola reacts during a first leg round of 16 Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester City in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. ((AP Photo/Jose Breton)
“The players are at home with their families today. And then they’ll send each other WhatsApp messages, I imagine, and tomorrow we’ll see each other,” the Manchester City manager said Monday, the day before he leads his team into the second leg of their round-of-16 matchup against the record 15-time European champions.
Indeed, Guardiola gave off a relaxed air as he talked about the “massive” task facing City on Tuesday after its implosion in the first leg in Madrid last week, when Federico Valverde scored a brilliant first-half hat trick.
“I don't have a specific plan, apart from to just try,” Guardiola said.
“It will have to be,” he added, “a perfect game in many, many departments — with our people, the referee decisions. Many, many things have to be so good.”
City's players will not train the day before the Madrid match because Guardiola thinks they need to rest after a hectic schedule that has seen them play in the Spanish capital on Wednesday and then in London against West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday night.
Instead, the City squad will come in a couple of hours earlier on Tuesday and do a light practice session before getting ready for kickoff against a Madrid team that could include fit-again striker Kylian Mbappé.
Guardiola doesn't see a problem with the team's build-up for the second leg.
Today we would have trained on the same things as we will tomorrow. Maybe 1% difference,” he said.
“In modern football in the top teams,” Guardiola added, “the training doesn’t improve a lot … because you don’t have time to train.”
City captain Bernardo Silva said he understood Guardiola's thinking.
“With all the trips we had this week, he just thought it would be best for us to sleep better … free a bit our minds and come back tomorrow, stronger and ready for the game,” Silva said.
Guardiola said he already knew his starting lineup, except for maybe one position. He didn't reveal any names.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Manchester City's Bernardo Silva speaks during a press conference in Manchester, England, Monday March 16, 2026, one day ahead of their Champions League soccer match against Real Madrid. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola looks on during a press conference in Manchester, England, Monday March 16, 2026, one day ahead of their Champions League soccer match against Real Madrid. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola sits on the bench before a first leg round of 16 Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester City in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. ((AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, center, watches from the stands during the Premier League soccer match against West Ham United, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in London. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola reacts during a first leg round of 16 Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester City in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. ((AP Photo/Jose Breton)
