JAKARTA - Winning the Premier League at this time is almost impossible for Manchester City because they are 22 points behind Liverpool. But there is still one main goal that coach Pep Guardiola has not achieved since leaving Barcelona: to win the Champions League!
Manchester City know what it feels like to win the Premier League trophy, but European competition is a different matter, even when they face the test against Real Madrid in the last 16.
The 13-time champion is Guardiola's eternal rival who will welcome him to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on 26 February. Of the seven visits with Barcelona, he has never lost, won five and drawn two.
Those victories include some memorable visits, such as the 6-2 win on 2 May 2009, which took place in La Liga Santander.
Since leaving Spain, Guardiola has only visited the Bernabeu once. At that time, the team he took care of, Bayern Munich were defeated 1-0 in the 2014 Champions League semifinals before a 0-4 defeat in the second leg.
It was Guardiola's only defeat at the Bernabeu so far in eight visits. Now, he hopes to avoid further disappointment when City visit the Spanish capital in an attempt to achieve their goal.
It's just that City's preparations were a little disrupted by Raheem Sterling's injury who left the field in the second half against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. According to a source at Marca, early indications suggested Sterling had a hamstring injury.
Guardiola declined to comment on the player's injury. The former Barcelona boss has confirmed the 25-year-old will undergo tests next week to assess how serious the injury has been.
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