Manchester City no longer suffer from Champions League stage fright according to former French international Claude Makelele.
City take on Real Madrid at the Champions League semi final stage, in a repeat of their last four exit at the hands of Los Blancos from 12 months ago.
Pep Guardiola has famously not won a Champions League title since lifting the trophy with Barcelona in 2011 with just one final reached at City.
The Catalan’s European record is back under the microscope, ahead of the trip to Madrid, to see if his squad can break their mental barrier in the competition.
Former Los Blancos star Makelele claimed Real Madrid are the best team in world football, but City are a different beast in the Champions League this season.
“Real Madrid are still the best team in the world, but City now understand how this competition is played”, as per reports from Marca.
“I’m still a fan of Madrid, but City have a good chance to win.
“It’s different from other years now, they have a more compact team, and have learned from this competition.
“They lost, lost, lost… but gained experience from winning the Premier League. Guardiola understands the Champions League requires a different way of playing.”
City avoided Real Madrid on route to their only Champions League final appearance, in 2021, but they knocked the Spanish giants out in the previous campaign.
