Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor says that his side must only focus on themselves as they prepare to face Real Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League Round 2 tie in the Spanish capital tomorrow night.
The Spanish club are making their tournament debut a little over 12 months after taking over fellow Madrid side CD Tacon and they are developing at a rapid pace.
Manchester City have a poor record against Spanish opposition in recent years and Real Madrid look to be a particularly tricky opponent. While all eyes will be upon what Real Madrid can do in their first European outing, Manchester City boss Taylor says that his side will be only be looking at what they can achieve in the tie.
“When you play against Spanish teams, there are trends that you will see across La Liga;” Taylor told FAWSL Full-Time in the pre-match press conference. “Most of the teams at this level are comfortable on the ball but we have to look at those areas where we can hurt them. We will be really respectful of what they can do and what they can achieve and the individual players that they have.
“I have always said that it is about us regardless of who we are playing. We concentrate on us, we are respectful of the opposition but we always go out to win the game.”
Both teams were seeded in the Round 2 draw and are arguably unlucky to be coming up against one another. Despite the ever-increasing profile of the recently-launched Real Madrid team, Taylor says that he is very confident that Manchester City can negotiate their way safely through the tie.
He added “It’s a tough opponent but one that we are really confident about in terms of what we can do and what we can achieve. Obviously there is a big prize at stake in terms of qualifying for the group stage.
“It has come quite quick with that being the first game of the season but I think that it is exciting to have these two games and we have never played against Real Madrid before in any competition before. These are the kind of games that you want to be involved in.”
Manchester City’s UEFA Women’s Champions League Round 2 first leg tie against Real Madrid takes place at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium at 8pm on Tuesday evening. The match will be available for fans to stream live on City+.
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