We travel to the Bernabeu to take on the 13-time winners in the first leg, before we welcome the Spanish side back to the Etihad on Tuesday 17 March.
And although facing Real Madrid will push Pep Guardiola’s side to their limits, the boss has stressed that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.
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“We have to show our personality, I know my players, myself, all the club want to fight until the end for this title,” the boss said of the match.
“But if you want to do that you have to face these teams sooner or later… you have to beat Madrid, you have to beat Barcelona, you have to beat Bayern Munich.
“You have to beat the big, big teams to try to win it.”
There is no question that Zinedine Zidane’s side are among the Champions League’s heavyweights, in fact they have won six more titles than any other side since the competition’s inception.
But Guardiola insists the history books are there to be re-written and believes his players have what it takes to progress.
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Addressing the media following our 1-0 win at Leicester, the boss said: “New players who come to Real Madrid, they know (the club’s history).
“You have to defend your history and that makes an extra in the fact that they live in that situation… but sooner or later other clubs will want to try to emulate and imitate them.
“What I want is going there and at the end of the game say ‘okay, we were what we are’.
“That is the most important thing in these competitions, don’t leave anything there… go and show it in front of one of the biggest, nicest prestigious stadiums in the world, do it.”
