Akanji, our star guest in the latest Official Man City Podcast which was recorded last month and released this evening, said he had good vibes ahead of that momentous 4-0 victory as 52,313 packed into the cauldron of the Etihad.
And those positive feelings continued as Pep Guardiola’s men turned on the style to see off Los Blancos and he said the players knew they then had to win the UCL final against Inter after defeating the 14-time victors of the competition.
“In the Champions League, Madrid has always been the best team.
“They have won the most titles and you always know that if maybe they’re not at their best they can score out of nowhere.
“The way we dominated them at home was ‘now we have to win it all’.
“It was such a great feeling to play in this game. It felt so good right from the start.
“We felt the fans were there, our passing and build-up was there, we pressed well and scored the early goal and then they had the shot against the crossbar from Toni Kroos but that was really the only chance they had in the game, I felt, and we kept on going.
“We didn’t stop even at half-time. You go in and think ‘okay we played really well’ but we continued and played great again. So I think that was best game ever.”
With the quarter-final of this season’s meeting with Madrid on the horizon next Wednesday, Akanji pointed to the impact of our supporters on that electric evening in 2022/23, as goals from Bernardo Silva (2), Julian Alvarez – and one for himself - ensured progress through to the Istanbul showpiece, which we won 1-0 to crown a truly historic campaign.
“We definitely felt it. With the game away, it wasn’t easy for us but I think it was a deserved draw.
“And then we just knew we had to win to get into the final. But you don’t really know what to expect of Madrid when they come here because you’ve seen in the past what’s happened with the previous semi-final we lost. It was probably in the back of everyone’s head.
“But when the game started, all of us felt so good and we really wanted that.
“We felt our fans behind our back, supporting us, it was really loud right from the start and we just had to do it.”
The new edition of the Official Manchester City podcast, featuring Manuel Akanji, will be released today at 17:00 (UK).
