That night, the Blues lost 3-1 and trailed by three goals with only an hour played.
Though City won 2-1 at the Bernabeu earlier this season, the boss was asked to reflect on that loss a year ago.
“Definitely we arrive better,” said Pep.
“We have the squad and last season we had fatigue with few players available.
“When you play against this opponent with incredible experience [it is tough] - I will tell you tomorrow and then next Tuesday night after the game.”
Asked whether his players are becoming used to playing at the Bernabeu and whether that diminishes any fear factor, the boss responded: “If you are not able to handle this situation or at Anfield, Emirates, Old Trafford, PSG, Camp Nou, you have to live with that. It’s a football game.
“Emotions come when you play bad or the opponent is better. It’s not the first time we are here.
“We’ve been many times and in these competitions, it’s so important.
“You never know what is going to happen, but good things cannot happen if you are not who you are.
“It’s impossible. You have to look them in the eyes and say, ‘this is who we are’.
“Maybe you can be lucky, but next one you will not be. Control the bad moments or good moments of them will be better.
“I prefer to be here than not to be here. I prefer to come here to play in the last 16 because that means we are in the elite of Europe. 12/13 years ago we were never here.
“For me it’s learning and young players its experience for the future. We want to continue and this is the way we have to approach the game.”
Guardiola was also asked to explain what ‘this is who we are’ actually means to him and what he sees our identity actually being.
“The Newcastle game defines who we are,” he said.
“Watch that game. It defines the team; we want to be proactive to regain the ball and attack. Otherwise drop the team and don’t make many mistakes.
“Attack with consistency again and again. Then recover the ball as quick as possible. In 10 years you cannot be perfect all the time.
“We have one or two players from the decade, but the identity insists.
“We play here two months ago to prove to ourselves to arrive in the last stages. We had to play in the way we can visualise and see we will be able to play in the last stages.
“In my experience, in Champions League finals and finals, it’s more difficult.
“You can be lucky. Sometimes you deserve to go through, and it doesn’t happen because football is unpredictable, but I want to deserve to be in the next round and the only chance is to be who you are.”
Asked for any team news updates, Pep added: “We play 11 v 11. When you have everybody fit, it’s better to rotate for fresh legs and minds.
“Tomorrow is another competition. The first leg of two games, we’ll try to get a good result.”
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