Pep Guardiola must use Barcelona and Bayern Munich past to nullify Real Madrid

Since his emergence as an elite coach at Barcelona over a decade ago, Pep Guardiola has been exploring different ways of establishing control on the pitch. This week, his experience must form the heart of his approach against Real Madrid.

As Manchester City prepare to face Carlo Ancelotti's men at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, chaos will be on the agenda for the 13-time Champions League winners. It is what allowed them to score three at the Etihad despite getting outplayed for large periods.

In Karim Benzema's undeniable individual quality, Luka Modric's ability to create something from nothing, and Vinicius Junior's speed and one-on-one strength, Madrid have unpredictable weapons. Guardiola's goal will be to make sure they don't assume the spotlight.

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Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi formed the base of his infamous Barcelona team. They truly dominated in the middle of the park, dancing around their opponents, rarely losing possession and scoring goals for fun.

Those players were integral to Guardiola's controlling game, but things changed once he moved to Germany. In the Bundesliga, Guardiola didn't possess the same level of control in the centre so he looked to balance things by operating with inverted full-backs who drifted inside to occupy traditional defensive midfield spaces.

The counter-attacking threat posed by opponents was strong during Guardiola's time at Bayern Munich, but his inverted full-backs ensured that his team retained control of the middle.

In Manchester, Guardiola has used a number of different methods, with his current team revolving around the perks of Joao Cancelo and his army of technicians. City have