Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema is anticipating an even contest with Manchester City over their two-legged Champions League last-16 tie.
City travel to the Bernabeu on Wednesday for the first leg before welcoming Los Blancos back to the Etihad three weeks later.
Madrid have won the Champions League in four of the last six seasons but Benzema knows it won't be easy against Pep Guardiola's side.
"What I can say about City is that they're a good team with a very good coach," Benzema told UEFA.
"They're a team that play with the ball, who aren't scared to make lots and lots of passes. It's going to be an even game.
City go into the game on the back of two Premier League wins this week, while Real have drawn against Celta Viga and lost to Levante in their last two outings to slip down to second in La Liga.
However, Benzema, who will play his 100th Champions League game on Wednesday, says form is not always relevant in Europe as players raise their game for the competition.
He continued: "[The Champions League] represents a lots of things - there's something different [about it], the emotions are not the same.
"That comes automatically in fact. It's not that you don't give as much in other competitions, but in the Champions League, I don't know... there's something about it.
"In Madrid, we have in our minds at the start of the season trying to win everything. It's not even trying, you have to win everything. Afterwards, you have to be lucky. You have to be good at the right time.
"But I would say that this year, compared to last year, the fact of having lost [last season against Ajax] allows you to question yourself. To have this motivation that makes you look even higher. This year, we want to do something good, whether in La Liga or in the Champions League."
