“Real and City” .. a confrontation between history and the present

Manchester City maximum Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals.

EPA

The upcoming confrontation that will take place today in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final between Manchester City and its Spanish guest, Real Madrid, will be a struggle between history and the present in the world of European football.

City's dream of winning the first continental crown collides with a confrontation with a team considered the "king" of the Champions League with its 13 record titles, the first of which dates back to 1956 on its way to monopolizing it for five consecutive seasons, the last of which was in 2018 when it was crowned three times in a row and four times in five seasons.

Before last season, City's best result in the Champions League was reaching the semi-finals in 2016, when his career was stopped by Real Madrid in particular, before the English team achieved its revenge in the 2019-2020 season by excluding the Royal Club from the final price by winning it back and forth.

As for Real, they are in the semi-finals for the 30th time in their history, which shows the size of the gap between the two teams in history.

But the word is now for the present, and City, led by Spanish coach Guardiola, showed that he is one of the best teams in the old continent, and he proved this in the previous round by excluding the other pole of the Spanish capital, Atlético Madrid, by defeating him in the first leg 1-0, and drawing with him in the second leg zero-0.

Guardiola, who won the title twice as coach of Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, commented on today's match, saying, "It is expected to be a special evening to enjoy, we must give everything we have, and then we will see what happens."

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