Pep Guardiola wants Champions League rule change after Man City draw Real Madrid | Football | Sport
Pep Guardiola has labelled the new Champions League format as ‘weird’ after discovering Manchester City will face Real Madrid once more in the last 16 – just months after beating them in the league phase. City, who lifted the trophy for the first time in 2023, have now encountered the Spanish powerhouses at different stages of the Champions League for five consecutive years.
The new expanded format, which was introduced two years ago, does not prevent sides who met in the opening league phase from facing each other again in the first knockout round. This means City and Real will lock horns again just over two months since Guardiola’s side triumphed at the Bernabeu. And the former Barcelona manager has suggested the competition ought to amend the regulations to ensure teams that meet in the league phase are separated in the last 16.
“Yes, it is a little bit weird [to face Real Madrid again],” he said. “Not many times does it happen that the last game of the group stage – Real Madrid v Benfica – is the first draw. It looks different. People will agree or disagree, but it is different.
When asked whether UEFA should alter the rules, Guardiola responded: “Why not? How many times have we played against Newcastle this season [the Premier League clubs meet in the FA Cup next weekend, having already contested a two-legged Carabao Cup semi- final]? Hopefully we can play against them in the [Champions League] final!
“Today is different. When I started, it was eight, nine, ten teams, they want to increase a lot with the schedule and calendar. It is a question of adapting. What can we do?”
The sides still in contention now have a clearer picture of their potential paths to the final, which is scheduled to take place at the end of May in Budapest.
However, Guardiola dismissed suggestions that Manchester City find themselves on the tougher side of the draw, stating: “[It] would be so disrespectful [to], for example, Newcastle, Barcelona, top teams, Atletico Madrid or Spurs. So I’m not a fan of that [saying it’s the easier half of the draw].
“The Champions League is so difficult. I’m not saying Madrid is not difficult, everybody knows it, but the rest of the teams that you play, I don’t know, you can name me any team, all of them, they have the ‘trick’. If you want to go through in this competition right now, you have to win against the best teams, otherwise you don’t deserve it.”
