Pep Guardiola’s men welcome Los Blancos to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening for the first leg of our Champions League semi-final showdown.
The two sides are meeting for only the seventh time in history, with our last meeting seeing City get the better of a Madrid side including Valverde in the 2019/20 Round of 16.
And ahead of Tuesday’s showdown, the Uruguayan has explained why City will once again pose a significant challenge to Carlo Ancelotti’s men, highlighting the team’s familiarity with each of their individual roles within the collective.
“City play really well, they’re organised and work well,” the Uruguayan said during a pre-match press conference.
“It’s a great team, obviously. They’ve been working together as a team for a long time.
“I think that brings a certain dynamic, a great one. They know how to play and what position they need to be in on the pitch.
“When they lose the ball, they also know what to do.
“They’re a really good team and always fighting for every competition, so we need to be prepared to cancel out those qualities and bring our own to the game.”
Real Madrid earned their place in the Champions League last four courtesy of hard-fought victories over Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea respectively.
But Valverde believes the 13-time winners will have to put on another convincing performance if they are to get the better of Pep Guardiola’s men.
“I think we’re prepared for whatever. In Paris it was really difficult, but we turned (the match) on its head.
“Chelsea was completely different, in the first leg it worked well, but we had to suffer in the Bernabeu.
“On Tuesday, we have to put on a really good show. I hope we can carry out our objective of making the final.”
