Pep Guardiola explains Man City gameplan for 'almost unstoppable' Cristiano Ronaldo

Pep Guardiola has confirmed his Manchester City plan to stop the 'almost unstoppable' Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo is under pressure at Manchester United as the Reds try to rescue their season, with the serial Ballon D'Or winner among those in their squad struggling to reach the heights expected. But he remains a world-class finisher, as Guardiola knows.

The City boss spoke of the half-chance that he conjured up in the reverse fixture this season at Old Trafford that nearly took away in a flash the control the visitors had taken minutes to build. Ahead of their meetings at the Etihad, Guardiola has told his players they need to do everything they can to avoid Ronaldo getting possession in the box.

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"He’s been one of the greatest in the last 15 years, alongside [Lionel] Messi. What these two guys have done, we're not going to see again," he said.

"When you achieve these things, under scrutiny every second of your life and today, even more now with social media. As a finisher he’s exceptional, I'm not going to disguise it was a joy to watch him these years.

"We have to explode our game, our strength to avoid Cristiano close to the box, because there he is almost unstoppable. I remember when we played there and we were winning 1-0 and in control, perfect, perfect, and then the first time arrived he made a chance and Eddy made an incredible save.

"He hadn't touched the ball but nearly scored. That is the quality and ability that he has. We have to control him. When you are one of the greatest that he was in terms of being a goalscoring machine, you will always be there. He is so strong mentally. He handled pressure without a problem because