Tuesday’s edition of Marca is full of praise for Liverpool, but not so much for Manchester City and, specifically, Pep Guardiola.
Whereas Atletico Madrid drawing the Reds in the Champions League has been used as reason to wax lyrical about the Premier League leaders, Real Madrid getting City is an excuse to drag up old rivalries.
One of the headlines makes it clear that ‘without Messi’, the manager has been a far different opponent in Europe’s elite competition. He wasn’t able to triumph with Bayern Munich and hasn’t yet been able to get his hands on the trophy with Manchester City.
Whilst it’s accepted the draw is a tough one for Madrid, with Marca saying it dispels conspiracy theories about them getting easy opponents, the heavy suggestion is there’s no longer a need to ‘get chills’ when facing a Guardiola team.
Manchester City themselves are dismissed as a club without any ‘European pedigree’ and with a manager who ‘despises the Champions League since he can’t win it’.If ever Pep Guardiola and his team needed more motivation for a football match, then Marca are surely going to provide it between now and the matches against Atletico Madrid.
