Pep Guardiola fears his Manchester City flops risk being torn apart by rampant Real Madrid in the Champions League unless they raise their game.
The Spaniard said: "I don't have to tell them. They have to know it because we know the standards that we have to be at these kinds of stages and competitions.”
City’s hopes of a Treble this season went up in smoke on Saturday night following their shock 2-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Arsenal at Wembley.
On August 7 they host a Real side that have clinched the Spanish title with a game to spare, winning ten games in a row since the return from the lockdown.
City lead 2-1 lead from the first leg in their last-16 showdown. But Guardiola fears the club's European dream could still turn into a nightmare.
He added: "Maybe we will learn and maybe not. We will see. We struggled to play at our level and we know it. You don't have to be a genius to realise we have to increase our standard against (Real) Madrid if we want to have any chance to go through.
"We have two weeks and we want to play the final (of the Champions League). We want to be in rhythm. It is the last opportunity we have to go through.”
City's season now rests on whether Guardiola can deliver what he was brought in for at vast expense - success in the Champions League for the first time in their history.
He insisted his players are still up for the fight after being left behind in the Premier League and added: "I think the fact that the Premier League is already done and that we play for nothing is hard, but in general, so far, it's been good.
"They have to (keep motivated). As a manager we motivate them and tell them what to do, so they have to.
"The responsibility of these players, what they have done is incredible. But we were in an FA Cup semi-final. We had to play the whole 90 minutes and we played just 45. In the first half everything was sloppy and not the right speed for this kind of game, when you want to reach a final."
