After their painful defeat by Real Madrid at this stage of the Champions League last season, Manchester City midfielder Rodri says his side are out for revenge tonight.
City are back at the Bernabeu for the first leg of their semi-final and the memories of last year’s second-leg collapse are still fresh in their minds.
Pep Guardiola’s side were leading 5-3 on aggregate in the 90th minute, but they collapsed, as two late goals from Rodrygo sent the game to extra-time.
Karim Benzema then completed the comeback with a penalty to leave Guardiola still chasing the one trophy that has eluded him since he took over at City in 2016.
“In the last five minutes of the second leg we didn’t handle it the right way, but we have learned from that — you have to kill when you can,” said Rodri
“We changed a lot of things and the environment has changed a lot, so we are here to fight again and we have the hunger for revenge.”
City certainly have changed from a year ago and nights like this are exactly why they signed Erling Haaland.
If they want to, as Rodri put it, “kill” a game, then there is no one better than Haaland to do the honours. The Norway striker has been unstoppable this season, scoring 51 goals in 46 games since joining from Borussia Dortmund last summer.
Haaland’s arrival has transformed the way City play, giving Guardiola greater tactical flexibility than ever. (Standard)