Pep Guardiola ready for Real Madrid ‘derby’ after Champions League draw

Pep Guardiola described Manchester City’s growing rivalry with Real Madrid as being “like a derby” after the two sides were paired yet again in the Champions League.

Guardiola’s side have been drawn to face the 15-times European champions in the Champions League knock-out round play-off, while Celtic were paired with Bayern Munich – the other side City might have faced after making it through the league phase thanks to Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Club Brugge.

It will be the fifth two-legged tie between City and Madrid in the last six seasons. Last year Madrid ended City’s hopes of retaining the Champions League as they won a penalty shoot-out at the Etihad in the quarter-finals.

The previous May, City beat Madrid 4-0 at the Etihad to complete a 5-1 aggregate win in the semi-finals, going on to complete a treble by beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul to conquer Europe for the first time in the club’s history.

Speaking after the draw, Guardiola said: “Well, it looks like a derby already. Four years in a row facing Madrid.

“Well, Madrid, Bayern, both was really, really tough. Yeah, hopefully we can arrive in the moment, that first leg here and the game one week later in Madrid, as best as possible.”

Celtic, who became the first British club to win the European Cup in 1967, will face former City captain Vincent Kompany and his Bayern Munich side, currently top of the Bundesliga with Harry Kane leading the scoring charts.

It will be the third time Celtic and Bayern have come up against each other in the Champions League, with the most recent meetings in the 2017-18 group stage, with Bayern winning 3-0 in Munich and 2-1 in Glasgow.

City and Celtic will be at home for the first legs on either February 11 or 12, and on the road the