Manchester City will host Real Madrid at the Etihad on Tuesday.
This will be the second time the two sides will be meeting in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The last time they met in the semi-finals was in 2016 and Real Madrid won the tie on 1-0 aggregate.
Manchester City is playing their second consecutive finals in a row after beating Atletico Madrid 1-o on aggregate to qualify for the semis.
Speaking ahead of the clash, Rodri believes Manchester City is the better side although real Madrid has the experience.
What was said?
“We know perfectly well how they play and their experience in this competition, but they also know how to suffer and wait until their time comes to hurt you. It is their great virtue.
“[They] may not dominate you for the 90 minutes, but they are always dangerous. We have to be alert and make the best of the first leg at home. I think we are better, but we have to show it on the pitch.”
Karim Benzema has been the main man for Real Madrid this season scoring 39 goals and assisting 13 in 40 matches.
His hat-trick in the semi-final and quarter-final against Chelsea and PSG has helped Real Madrid reach this stage.
Speaking about the danger of facing Karim Benzema he said: “He is in the best moment of his career. I’ve played against him several times and you notice that he understands the game like no one else and makes the team improve in everything, and the key goals he has scored this season.
“You see him play and you think ‘wow’. He makes his team feel comfortable on the ball… as Ancelotti says, he is the perfect modern striker. We are going to be watching him, like the whole team.”
Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus has also spoke about the atmosphere in the Man City locker room and the last time they faced Real Madrid
Speaking to Marca ahead of the crucial semi-final encounter, Gabriel Jesus said:
“I think we are all more nervous: the players, the coach, the staff, the club itself. Not only City, Real Madrid too. It is a Champions League semi-final. It’s the same with the final or the quarters. It is normal. I think so but like some players.
“With a match with the grandeur of the Champions League semi-final, against a great European club like Real Madrid, the biggest champion in the competition, the only tactic is to have the personality to play.
“Real Madrid is not ‘defendable’. Real Madrid, not only the club but almost all the players, has a lot of experience in the Champions League qualifiers. And that’s important, of course. But we have also been growing, last year we reached the final, and unfortunately, we lost it, but we got there.
“The Bernabeu is an environment that they are used to living: that decisive moment, that experience in a tie with players who are also used to it… It is normal that things go their way, for that club. The more experience a club has in a competition, the better it will be. We’re going to play the first game at home and we have to set our own pace because I’m sure that there, like here, it’s going to be difficult, and that’s where they have their magic.”
