Man City edge towards immortality but must first beat 'kings of Europe' Real Madrid

The motivation for Manchester City on Wednesday evening is nothing short of the chance to become arguably the greatest club side of all time.

No European club has ever won back-to-back trebles, but City are 12 games from that feat and will clear probably the toughest remaining hurdle if they eliminate Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final decider.

“[It is] obviously an inspiration and motivation,” said midfielder Bernardo Silva, who opened the scoring in last week’s scintillating 3-3 first-leg draw at the Bernabeu.

No English club has ever won four straight titles, which City will achieve if they win their remaining six league games, while in the Champions League era only Madrid have won the trophy in consecutive seasons, winning it three years out of four from 2014-18.

These are the lofty records that now drive Pep Guardiola and City, who also face Chelsea in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. Guardiola, though, on Tuesday played down the prospect of a double-treble, even if he is happy to let his players dream big.

“I am not going to say, ‘Don’t feel this’ to my players, but I have a different opinion. We are far away from those hypothetical dreams,” he said.

“When we are in the final of the FA Cup and two or three games [remaining] in the Premier League and in the final of the Champions League, I will start to think about that. I started to think of the treble last season only when we beat Manchester United in the FA Cup Final.”

With a two-point cushion in the league and neither of their title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool left in the FA Cup, the prospect of immortality will feel considerably closer if City beat the 14-time European champions tonight.

City may be the Champions League holders but, for now, Madrid still feel like the team to beat, with Bernardo pointedly describing them as the “kings of Europe” yesterday.

“We know how well this team has done and we want to create that legacy and do another Premier League to do six in seven years and four in a row,” added the Portuguese. “And we want to win the Champions League to do two in a row that only Madrid have done, but no one else won four consecutive Premier Leagues.”

Crucially, the fear factor which characterised City’s astonishing semi-final defeat by Madrid in 2020-21, when the eventual winners scored three times after the 90th minute at the Bernabeu, has gone.

City routed them 4-0 at the Etihad in last season’s semi-final second leg, a game which boss Guardiola described as the high point of his tenure and appeared to represent a power shift in elite European football. “I respect Real Madrid, [but] if I say I’m scared of them, I would be false,” said Guardiola, who is sweating on the fitness of Kyle Walker.

In February, Guardiola said his team were “99.99 per cent” certain not to repeat last season’s treble. Those numbers have already shifted considerably, and will come tumbling down further if City are victorious tonight.