Manchester City hosts Real Madrid this Tuesday in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, where they will attempt what seems impossible to many: overturning a 3-0 deficit from the first leg in Madrid. For Madrid fans, it’s another opportunity to confront a Catalan, a Barcelona legend as both player and coach, with a heavy defeat. Therefore, in the lead-up to the match, one of the questions posed by journalists was already trying to predict the future: 'How do you deal with failure?' 'None of the great athletes in the history of all sports have always won. That doesn’t exist. In sports, you lose more than you win. Real Madrid has won 15 Champions League titles, but how many have they played in their history? 100? They have lost more than they have won; were all the ones they lost failures?' he questioned. He didn’t stop there; subsequently, Guardiola touched on the sore spot that hurts Real Madrid fans the most: the team they hold dearest, known as La Quinta del Buitre. The historic team was built on players trained at the Madrid club and won almost everything, with the main figures being the quintet of Emilio Butragueño, Miguel Pardeza, Manolo Sanchís, Míchel González, and Rafael Martín Vázquez. 'La Quinta del Buitre was the best team I saw play at Real Madrid. I was young and didn’t see any team play such good football until the Dream Team of Barcelona came along [ironic laughter]. How many Champions League titles did La Quinta del Buitre play in? Well, they never won one. Was that a failure? No, I say they were not a failure; on the contrary, they did a lot for football and for Spanish football,' he concluded.
Real Madrid For Madrid remains central to this story.
Real Madrid For Madrid remains central to this story.
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