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Manchester City need "two exceptional games" to overcome Real Madrid and reach the Champions League final, said City boss Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola's side lost 1-0 to Chelsea in their first Champions League final last season, while Real have been European champions 13 times.

"It is not necessary to say how good Real Madrid are," said Guardiola.

"If we have to compete with their history, we don't have any chance. The history is there, we can't change it, but it's 11 against 11 with one ball moving.

"We will try to be ourselves, compete well. We need to play two exceptional games to reach the final."

To be honest, though, when you're chasing your maiden Champions League victory - a first triumph in what has become the holy grail for your club - you really don't need any extra motivation.

Tonight, Manchester City take on 13-time winners Real Madrid in the first leg of a huge semi-final in Europe's premier league competition

Nothing will be definitively settled tonight, but the result could go a long way towards doing so. Which is why City need to make the most of the home advantage.

However, as Chelsea found out in the last round, Real are no slouches on the road.

But then if they want a less recent but more stage and opponent-relevant example to really get their vengeance juices flowing for tonight, there is always this from 2016...

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Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

If Manchester City need any kind of motivation for tonight, they need only cast their minds back to last May and some of the images from the Estadio do Dragao that no doubt still occasionally haunt their sleep...

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Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images