Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City boss, said this Tuesday, ahead of Wednesday's quarter-final second leg at the Etihad Stadium against Real Madrid, that he respects the white outfit but isn't afraid of them.

"We gotta do better than at the Bernabéu. If you lose against Madrid, you shake hands and congratulate them. I wanna play in a way that earns us a spot in the semis. Neither us nor them will dominate for 90 minutes," said the Spanish coach, who emphasized he doesn't fear the 'Blancos' but does respect them.

"Nah, I respect 'em a lot, but fear? Nah. We've faced off many times. If I praise 'em, it's 'cause I mean it. If you don't believe me, I can't help that. Played against Madrid many times as a player and I respect 'em heaps. It's a rivalry, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The sense of danger with Madrid is always there. They know we'll go for it. If the games have been good in recent years, let tomorrow's be too."

The Spanish coach heads into this clash after a blow to the Premier League, where they've taken the lead alone with two points ahead of Liverpool and Arsenal, and on Saturday, they'll fight for a spot in the FA Cup final at Wembley against Chelsea. Despite the tight schedule, Guardiola didn't complain.

"I'm used to it, better to be here than not. Not gonna complain for a second about it. It's what it is. 24 more hours to prepare is important. I'm ready to suffer until it's over," he noted.

Before Guardiola, Bernardo Silva took the press conference and mentioned that Real Madrid is a better team this season than the last.

"Don't entirely agree with Bernardo. Last season Madrid was very good, with Benzema, Modric playing more minutes... Last season Madrid was exceptional, as always. People think I'm joking, but I've always had a good opinion of Real Madrid."