PEP GUARDIOLA needs his treble winners to “hurt and punish” Jude Bellingham and company on the night.
But Real Madrid will try to put a ceiling on the Champions League champions by ratcheting up the noise at their new £1. 5 billion Bernabeu.
The 14-time European Cup winners asked UEFA for permission to close the roof for the quarter-final first leg and make the atmosphere as intimidating as possible for Manchester City.
And according to Marca, UEFA has the request.
City manager Guardiola has told his players that just trying to get Real Madrid involved is enough, especially as they beat them 5-1 on aggregate in last season’s semi-final.
He said: “We can’t come here just to play. You have to try to hurt them, punish them. “
“We have to let them know that we are here to score goals. We have to impose our game, show who we are.
“We’ve done it, and if we’ve done it once, we can do it again. “
Guardiola admits England’s ace Bellingham has made Madrid a tougher opponent than the one they beat last season.
He added: “He’s had a season in terms of goals, assists and presence in the box.
“Not only in Madrid, but also with the England national team, he’s been brilliant.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
“It’s not just about your abilities, it’s about what you do with your brain and your mind. “
City’s Spanish midfielder Rodri will be tasked with silencing the Three Lions’ ace.
Bellingham, a 20-year-old former Borussia Dortmund star, is one of four Madrid players walking a tightrope as they are shown to have yellow cards.
Rodri, 27, said: “We know him, we played a lot against Dortmund, he’s powerful, he’s been given strength.
“Madrid play differently. They have more with him and we have to adapt, but I don’t like to concentrate on just one player.
And Rodri warned that Real City were more mature after ending their long wait for their first Champions League trophy last season.
He scored the goal in the final against Inter Milan in June.
Rodri added: “It gives you more composure, serenity on the pitch.
“We have the joy and we are more mature than when we played for the first time.
“We are the winners and we must do it again. I’m very confident in how we’re going to play. “
UEFA will find out this morning whether Madrid will be allowed to close the roof of its renovated 81,000-seat stadium.
It was a close match when they beat RB Leipzig in the round of 16 and they plan to create a hot atmosphere tonight.
Madrid looked to move the first leg to the Etihad to avoid an imaginable clash with neighbours Atletico, who host Dortmund tomorrow.
They also asked fans to wear white to make it as intimidating as possible for Pep’s men.
By Dave Kidd
He’s had a career, Kalvin Phillips.
A hat-trick and one of only 12 living Englishmen to reach the final of a foreign primary tournament.
A hero from his hometown of Leeds, where he was the linchpin of Marcelo Bielsa’s championship-winning team and celebrated as the ‘Yorkshire Pirlo’.
England Player of the Year in 2021, when the Three Lions reached a final for the first time in more than half a century.
In fact, Phillips has been involved in most of England’s most productive victories over the past three years: against Germany and Denmark at those Euros, at home and away in the qualifiers against Italy, against a Belgian team ranked No. 1 in the standings. World Cup, Senegal’s defeat at the World Cup and the thrashing suffered by the Scots last autumn.
This record from Gareth Southgate’s team is a wonderful irony.
Had Phillips remained on the Manchester City bench, he would have headed to Germany this summer and likely as a starter.
The tough guy has been a perfect footballer and, at 28 years old, he may be one again.
Phillips is also a smart guy, highly regarded in the England squad and who attracted a full space from all over Leeds when the club arranged a break-up ahead of his move to the Etihad as part of a £45m deal.
But for now, Phillips has become impossible to see. The Daleks, curling their toes, grinding their teeth, hiding the sofa, triumph on levels impossible to see.
His loan to West Ham, which seemed practical for club and player, is an unmitigated disaster.
And it seems as if Phillips is in the middle of a conspiracy across football that believes that anything that happens will happen.
©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. 679215 Registered Office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. “The Sun”, “Sun”, “Sun Online” are registered trade marks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. This service is provided under News Group Newspapers’ Limited’s popular terms and situations in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. To inquire about a license to reproduce material, please visit our distribution site. Check out our online press kit. For other inquiries, please contact us. To view all of The Sun’s content, please use the site map. Sun’s website is regulated through the Independent Press Standards Organization (IPSO).