Man City 'may never have better chance' to win Champions League, says Wayne Rooney

Manchester City face Real Madrid in the Champions League on August 7
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Matt Davies2 August 2020

Former England captain Wayne Rooney believes Manchester City may never have a better chance of winning the Champions League as Pep Guardiola's side prepare for the visit of Real Madrid.

The Champions League remains the major trophy that has eluded Guardiola during his four-year stint at City, who enter their last-16 second leg with a 2-1 advantage having beaten Los Blancos at the Santiago Bernabeu in March.

Man City, who missed out on both the Premier League and FA Cup this season, will look to redeem an otherwise below-par campaign with Champions League success, starting against the Spanish champions on August 7.

And while Rooney acknowledges City have looked vulnerable against the Premier League's top teams this season, he believes the red card to Sergio Ramos in the first leg could prove decisive.

"City may never have a better chance to win the Champions League," Rooney wrote in his column in The Times.

AFP via Getty Images

"Sergio Ramos is suspended which is a huge loss to the Real defence and I think City will score. Whether they are solid enough at the back themselves is my only question.

"Real will target their centre halves and it's a worry that this season every other [Premier League] 'Big Six' club beat City... this shows Guardiola's team can struggle to keep the best sides out."

Real finished the season in emphatic style following the restart, claiming their 34th LaLiga title with 10 straight victories.

And Rooney expects Zinedine Zidane's counter-attacking style deployed against "Guardiola-style" teams to cause City problems - but insists City remain in pole position to progress.

"I saw Zinedine Zidane do it in his first spell as Real coach when he played against Guardiola-style teams in big games, and it brought him successes," Rooney added.

"Yet my money is still on City. They don't have to chase the game. They don't have to score. They can even afford to lose 1-0 and go through, and in the first leg they surprised Madrid by sitting in themselves.

"It was the first time I've seen Guardiola play like that and I've a feeling he'll do the same at the Etihad. It could be a game of cat-and-mouse."

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