Pep Guardiola urges Man City to stay true to their identity in Champions League

Pep Guardiola has urged his Manchester City team to stay true to their identity and earn their place in the Champions League quarter-finals.

City returns to the Bernabeu for the second time this season to face Real Madrid in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday.

The sides have met in six of the past seven campaigns, and Guardiola knows another tight contest is likely.

Guardiola said: “You never know what is going to happen in this competition but good things cannot happen if you are not who you are.

“You have to face the opponent with incredible respect, look in their eyes and say, ‘this is who we are as a team’.

“It is 180 minutes and there will be moments for both teams. The more you control their good moments, the better.

“In this competition sometimes you deserve to go through and it doesn’t happen. Sometimes you play really bad and you go through because football is unpredictable.

“But we have to try to earn the ticket. I want to deserve to be in the next round and the only way is to be who we are.”

The clubs have met 15 times since 2012, with each side winning five games and drawing the other five.

Real prevailed in last season’s play-off but City were 2-1 winners in the league phase in December during what has been an inconsistent campaign for the Spanish giants.