City welcome the La Liga winners to the Etihad Stadium on Friday evening, for the second leg of our Champions League last 16 tie.
It is a little over five months since Pep Guardiola’s side produced a superb fight back to win 2-1 in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, before COVID-19 saw football suspended for three months.
Laporte admits it’s unclear how such a lengthy break will impact the deciding game, but says City are ready to battle for a place in the quarter-final.
“I don’t know how it [gap between fixtures] will affect the game,” he said.
“But we are ready to play against them and we will be prepared to fight until the end.”
With two multiple Champions League winning managers and a host of world class players on either side, this is a game that would not look out of place in the latter stages of the tournament.
Zinedine Zidane’s side have benefitted from three weeks preparation time since their final La Liga game, whilst City have had a fortnight to fine tune things on the training ground.
But for all we might expect a tactical battle, Laporte, who was forced off with injury in the first leg, feels a quality that cannot be taught – desire – will prove vital.
“We are ready to fight and we have to compete,” he added.
“We are working every day to win this game. It’s a big competition.
“Hopefully we can win and progress to the next phase.”
