Man City can use what Rodri said before Real Madrid trip as motivation vs Everton

Winning the treble would be the crowning accomplishment of Pep Guardiola's time at Manchester City.

However, as Guardiola, his players and the City fans know all too well, there are many hurdles to overcome before they can even think about the open-top bus tour. Nothing quite sums up the challenge of competing on three fronts quite like this week for the Blues.

On Tuesday, City contested a grueling fixture with Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals which saw the hosts take up a tactic politely described as the 'physical approach'. Jack Grealish wincing in pain after being barged into the hoardings by Dani Carvajal set the tone for the evening.

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City came away from the Bernabeu with a creditable 1-1 draw and with the second leg looming next week, the final is within reach. But before then, a trip to a buoyant Everton awaits.

Sean Dyche masterminded a deeply surprising 5-1 victory at Brighton earlier this week and spirits will be high in the Merseyside club's camp.

Guardiola's big task will be to focus his players on the immediate task at hand and not let their minds wander towards Wednesday night. But, that is easier said than done.

Perhaps he may be inclined to lean on the philosophy which Rodri adopted before facing Madrid. "We will have the chance for revenge, we have the philosophy you can learn from past experiences, we did a great two games but didn’t go through," the Spanish midfielder said.

"We are here to fight again with motivation, the feeling we’ve done things well and arrive in our best moment. We can learn about what we can improve and what we did bad in that moment."

Guardiola was quick to stunt any talk about revenge motives when he spoke moments