Man City vs. Real Madrid: Pep Guardiola makes team selection admission, explains key training decision before Champions League clash

Pep Guardiola has explained why his Manchester City team will not train the day before Tuesday’s crucial Champions League last-16 second-leg showdown with Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium.

The Citizens are tasked with overturning a three-goal deficit after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Los Blancos in last week’s first leg at the Bernabeu.

Only four teams in Champions League knockout history have previously come back from at least three goals down after the first leg to progress on aggregate, highlighting the scale of the challenge facing Man City against 15-time European champions Real Madrid.

Guardiola has admitted that his players must produce a ‘perfect’ performance if they wish to pull of a remarkable remontada on home soil and is optimistic that they will create several goalscoring opportunities against Alvaro Arbeloa’s side.

In preparation for this mouthwatering contest, the Catalan coach has made the somewhat surprise decision to give his first-team players a day off and not arrive for training on Monday, with a short session planned on Tuesday afternoon instead just hours before kickoff.

Man City players will train just hours before huge Real Madrid clash

Explaining his decision at a pre-match press conference on Monday, Guardiola said: “We train tomorrow for the game.

“In Madrid, we arrived late [back] in the hotel, sleep, come back [to Manchester] in the morning, travelling here, day after no training, go to London (for Saturday’s 1-1 Premier League draw with West Ham), arrived [back] yesterday at 2:30am, so today you cannot do anything.

“The players who played are still at home and tomorrow we train... the training won't improve a lot, so we don't have time to train. I prefer them to be at home. We will arrive at 2.00pm, move a little on the legs and go. It's not the first time. I've done it two or three times this season (against Borussia Dortmund and Fulham).

Pressed on if the decision was motivated to prepare his players mentally for a game of this magnitude, Guardiola added: “It's related. The way you play, if you play good mentally you will be strong, and if you don't play good you will be weaker."

“I will find out tomorrow (about the players) and train then, it is very simple," he continued. "Three days difference is a long trip you have to go by train or plane. Players will be with their families. They will send WhatsApp messages to each other I am sure.”

Captain Bernardo Silva was the only Man City player who arrived at the club’s training complex for media duties and he has shared his thoughts on Guardiola’s decision to give the squad a day off.

He told reporters: “We have done it in the past, plenty of times, when we lost games when we won the games, when the manager felt it was best for the team. The manager thought it would be best for the team to come back together stronger for tomorrow.”

Guardiola delivers team selection update before Real Madrid clash

Meanwhile, Guardiola has revealed that he has already selected his starting lineup for Tuesday’s game, but there is one slight doubt in his mind ahead of kickoff.

“The selection I have already more or less,” he said. “I know the team that is going to start tomorrow. I don't have any doubts. One doubt maybe, but the rest is clear.”

Josko Gvardiol (tibial fracture) and Rico Lewis (ankle) are the only known injury absentees for Man City, with Mateo Kovacic back available for selection after recovering from a long-term ankle/heel issue to make the substitutes’ bench against West Ham last weekend.