Fernandinho has warned his Manchester City teammates that they must be 'cautious' of Real Madrid and that their upcoming Champions League encounter will be 'complicated.'
City have a 2-1 away goal advantage following the victorious first leg in the last 16 tie back in February, with Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne notching the goals in a historic win at the Bernabeu.
However, much has changed since that match and Madrid have since gone from strength-to-strength, winning La Liga at a canter over Barcelona.
With a place in the Champions League 'mini-tournament' in Lisbon on the line, Fernandinho has warned his teammates that all their focus must be on the upcoming match, which is set to be finally played on Friday, August 7.
“We have to think only and exclusively about Real Madrid," the Brazilian told Globo Esporte, via SportWitness.
"There’s no way to think ahead. We know the quality of Real Madrid, especially when it comes to the Champions League. We have to be cautious, prepare well. The 90 minutes we’ll have in Manchester will be very complicated.”
It's taken so long for the second leg to be played due to the chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and the match has once again been put in to doubt after Madrid's Mariano Diaz tested positive for COVID-19.
However, both City and Los Blancos are continuing to prepare for the game as normal and, although UEFA and the UK government could yet get involved on whether the game can go ahead, both clubs are acting as if the clash will be able to be played as expected.
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