Manchester City Must Not Underestimate Real Madrid in UCL, Says Ilkay Gundogan

Ilkay Gundogan has warned that Manchester City must not underestimate Real Madrid if they eventually play their UEFA Champions League last-16 second leg. 

The Sky Blues won the first leg 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu last month. Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne scored in the last 12 minutes to turn the game on its head after Isco opened the scoring on the hour:

The return leg at the Etihad Stadium was supposed to take place on Tuesday but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic:

Per Marca, Gundogan said he is hopeful the fixture will eventually be played, and he made it clear City cannot be complacent against "one of the best teams in Europe" despite their two away goals:

"I only know that the tie isn't decided yet. We'll see if we can play, let's hope so. The most important thing is not underestimating Madrid. We've only played half the tie and the difference is only one goal, so you can't get relaxed. Madrid are always dangerous."

The Germany international added that City only need to look to some recent precedents to know that the tie is far from over:

"Knockout ties in recent seasons have seen incredible comebacks that no one expected. We have to be careful. Even more so with Madrid."

In both Champions League semi-finals last season, the team that lost the first leg ended up reaching the final.

Tottenham Hotspur booked their spot by beating Ajax 3-2 in Amsterdam after losing 1-0 in London, and Liverpool beat Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield to advance despite a 3-0 loss at the Camp Nou.

City, meanwhile, were themselves victims of an impressive comeback by Monaco in the last 16 of the 2016-17 tournament, when the French team advanced despite losing the first leg 5-3.

That was in Pep Guardiola's first season in charge, and the Spaniard has been unable to launch a serious tilt at Europe's biggest prize since moving to the Etihad Stadium.

During his Barcelona tenure, he won the Champions Leagues twice in four seasons, and though he could not repeat that success in three campaigns at Bayern Munich, he did reach three semi-finals.

So far with City, Guardiola has only got as far as the last eight, but in 2019-20, the Champions League is now his top priority given it is all but impossible for the Sky Blues to defend their Premier League title:

After their first-leg result against Real, City are in a superb position to advance again to the quarter-finals, and assuming the 2019-20 season can eventually be finished, they will be well backed to go much further.