Man City have the opportunity to send a message to the rest of Europe and the Premier League when they face Real Madrid in the Champions League play-offs later this month.

It is the fourth successive season in which City will face Real, after meeting in the semi-finals in 2022 and 2023 and the quarter finals last year. The Spaniards have emerged victorious in two of those meetings while the Blues prevailed on their way to the Treble in 2023. Indeed whoever has emerged victorious has then gone on to win the tournament.

If City can prevail over two legs, it will go a long way to proving they have overcome their slump. There is no getting away from this being the toughest draw City could have faced, especially with the second leg falling away from the Etihad.

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But they have a chance to find the positives from the encounter, even if boss Pep Guardiola knows it will be a tough task.

“It looks like a derby already, four years in a row facing Madrid,” said Guardiola. “Madrid or Bayern, both were really tough, hopefully we can arrive in the first leg here and the next one in Madrid as best as possible.”