Manchester City face their Champions League demons against Real Madrid

F or Pep Guardiola, it is not so much the thrill of the chase, although that is plainly a part of the equation. It is being in it to feel it. The Manchester City manager has talked on numerous occasions this season about how proud he is that his team are yet again in the shake-up for the Premier League and Champions League titles.

The way that Guardiola explains it is a little like how the top golfers and tennis players approach their business. Concentrate on your end of things; the preparations, both mental and physical; the in-game movements and actions. If you leave nothing on the course or the court, there can be no regrets. If you win, it is wonderful. If you fall short, the opponent has just been too good.

Being there, competing to the limit, is everything and, according to Guardiola, it is the hardest bit, the one that requires the most sacrifice. To him, there is a beauty in the constancy of the City machine he has assembled, the consistency that has them set fair for a fifth league title in six seasons and about to contest a third straight Champions League semi-final.

City won the first one – against Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 before losing in the final to Chelsea. Before that, there were three consecutive quarter-final exits and before that, one in the last 16. The knockout rounds of Europe’s elite competition have become the personal playground of Guardiola’s team and, at the same time, the scene of their worst nightmares.

As the chase leads them back to Real Madrid and a first-leg tie at the Bernabéu on Tuesday night, it is impossible to ignore the notion that to impose their vision of a glorious future, they must do more than beat the team in front of them; the one with 14 European Cups to their name.