Manchester City are just 90 minutes away from qualifying for a second ever Champions League final on Wednesday night, but hoping to stop them are a familiar foe in Real Madrid.
City head to the Estadio Bernabeu with a 4-3 first leg lead to their name, with Pep Guardiola’s side playing out a gripping seven-goal thriller with Real just eight days ago at the Etihad Stadium. City know that against the Spanish giants, avoiding defeat in normal time in Spain would guarantee a place in the final in Paris later this month against Premier League title-chasing rivals Liverpool.
The Sky Blues found themselves in a very similar position just six years ago, against the same opponents, in the same ground and at the same stage of the competition.
In 2016, the two sides went into the second leg tie in Madrid off the back of a goalless draw in Manchester, setting up a winner-takes-all clash in Spain between City and Real. However, on that occasion, a Fernando own-goal decided the tie, with City exiting the competition and Real reaching the final, going on to be city rivals Atletico on penalties at the San Siro in Milan.
After a semi-final defeat and missing out on what would have been a first final at the time, City came under criticism from former England, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United winger Waddle.
At that time, Waddle felt that a City side then managed by Manuel Pellegrini played as if they were scared to take on Real, leading to their defeat.
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"It's no disgrace at all, losing to Real Madrid, it's just the manner of the defeat," Waddle told the BBC back in 2016. " Manchester City never played at a tempo. They looked like they were a bit afraid of Madrid. The home side could have won by three or four.
"Goalkeeper Joe Hart kept City in it over the two legs and in Madrid they had nothing to lose - score the first goal and you win the tie basically - but they passed short and square.
"If you go for it and end up losing, the fans will walk away thinking: 'We had a real go.' But you can't say that about City. Sergio Aguero was shackled and there was nothing going forward. They were looking for creativity but found nothing."
Since that defeat in 2016, City have won three more Premier League titles, won FA Cup and went on a run of winning four consecutive Carabao Cup trophies. Last season, they reached the Champions League final, but lost to English rivals Chelsea with a 1-0 defeat in Porto.
Away from their European hopes City are chasing a sixth Premier League crown in the space of a decade this season and currently sit a point above Liverpool in the table with just four league games to go.
City’s final four league games of the season come against Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United and Aston Villa. But their burning ambition is the Champions League, and they will hope for a different outcome against Real Madrid this time around.
