Oleks Zinchenko says Manchester City have learned a valuable lesson from their seven-goal Champions League thriller with Real Madrid. And the Ukraine international, one of the Blues’ top performers on the night, admits they need to work on the issues that cost them a convincing victory on the night.
City will take a 4-3 first leg lead to the Bernabeu next week, but after three times holding a two-goal advantage, and missing a host of chances, they are still only one conceded goal away from facing extra time as they chase a second successive Champions League final final. Real were outplayed for long periods in the game, but the genius of two-goal Karim Benzema and the pace of winger Vinicius Junior kept them alive in the tie.
City will be buoyed by the fact they won 2-1 on their last visit to the home of the 13-time European champions, and that last month Chelsea came close to pulling off famous aggregate win at the Bernabeu, winning 3-2 in the away leg after a disastrous 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
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But Zinchenko — who had a fine game and was a tactical linchpin for the Blues with his forays into midfield — said Real’s three goals were a reminder of the need to be 100 per cent against opposition who refuse to concede defeat.
“You cannot be relaxed even for one minute or even less at this stage of the competition, especially against Real Madrid,” said Zinchenko. “You can control the game for I don’t know how many minutes but then suddenly they have one moment and they score the goal.
“They have a lot of quality in each line, so we have to be ready. We conceded three goals, we need to analyse what we did wrong, maybe we need to change something. I don’t know, but the manager is going to tell us what we need to do.
“At some point you should be happy with this result because it is still the same advantage, but it is not done yet, especially against Real Madrid. In the previous stage they played against Chelsea and you didn’t know until the end who was going to go through.
“Sometimes football can be so painful because it looks like you control the game and then in one moment you concede and you are out. You need to be focused and now it is 90 more minutes.”
In the build-up to Tuesday night’s game, manager Pep Guardiola had spoken about Real’s mentality, especially in a competition where they believe they have a divine right — an area in which City are still developing as a club and as a team.
Zinchenko said that the City players are fully aware of the psyche of their opponents, which allows them to hit back even when they appear to be getting swamped, as they were at times against City.
He added: “You can see from their side, their behaviour, their personality, they know how to play at this stage of the competition. They have a lot of experience in the past. We also have some experience and I think next week is going to be very interesting.
“I think everyone who has watched this game has enjoyed it because there were a lot of goals. But it is just the first game and we have another game next week. It is going to be so tough because Real Madrid know how to play and they have the personality to play in this competition at this stage.
“We also have experience, so I think next week will be so interesting and we need to prepare ourselves as much as we can. You cannot be confident until it is done, especially when you play against Real Madrid.
“They know how to play in this competition and like you can see in their previous stage when they played against Chelsea, the game was from both sides and you didn’t know who was going to go through to the semi-final. It is not done yet and we need to prepare ourselves as best as we can.
“It is an unbelievable stadium, an unbelievable atmosphere there. I think every player is dreaming about playing in this stage of the competition over there. It is a pleasure and you are dreaming about this as a football player since you are a little kid. It is going to be a massive pleasure to be there.
“You always have to believe in yourselves. Everywhere, even away from football. That is life and anything is possible. If you do it right, focus on your game and prepare yourselves as best as you can then it is difficult to make mistakes.”
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