Pep Guardiola has admitted that he is not confident in his side's chances of beating Real Madrid and progressing to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
On Wednesday evening, the Citizens will attempt to do something they have only succeeded in doing once in six attempts—win a competitive match at the Santiago Bernabeu. Last week, the Sky Blues conceded two goals in the final 10 minutes of their first-leg playoff matchup against Los Merengues, suffering a 3-2 defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
Now, City will have to overcome Los Blancos in the second leg. However, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss is not confident in his side's chances of achieving this.
"The margin to win in Bernabeu in that position, everybody knows that if you ask before the game, the percentage to go through, I don't know, we arrive at one percent, it will be minimal, but as much as you have a chance, we will try, that's for sure," the three-time UEFA Champions League winner said, as per Goal.
After City's 3-0 win over Newcastle United, the Spanish tactician did reveal that his team would likely not be in the playoff round of Europe's premier competition if they had put on displays like that earlier in the campaign. However, he claimed that the reality for the Mancunians is that they have not been good this season.
"This season, the reality, we have been miles, miles away. If you tell me, if you perform like [Saturday], we finished 22 in the Champions League, of course not, we would have finished higher," Guardiola added.
"But the reality, we have been really, really poor in performance in the results this season, and just for one game, that today, played really good, and it's not going to change the opinion, the reality, the team, it is right now, and we are still not good in terms of day by day.
"But of course, it's better to travel to Madrid with this result than imagining defeat in the last minutes, so at the end, okay, the chance is, minor, because the result was not good, five minutes ago, with 2-1, it will be different, but with 2-3, the chances is, but as much as you have a chance, we are going to take it, and we'll see what happens."
