MADRID • Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has warned against complacency despite his team finally producing a Champions League performance worthy of their status as one of European football's elite clubs on Wednesday evening.
City beat Real Madrid 2-1 away in the first leg of their last-16 tie after a stunning late fightback, becoming just the third English side to win at the Santiago Bernabeu after Arsenal in 2006 and Liverpool in 2009.
Kevin de Bruyne kept his cool to beat Belgium teammate Thibaut Courtois from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute to give City the lead after Gabriel Jesus had equalised five minutes earlier.
Isco scored for Real on the hour mark, but the 13-time European champions' night soon unravelled, culminating in captain Sergio Ramos' red card for hauling down Jesus.
Guardiola, who has not gone past the quarter-finals in his three previous seasons with the club, was delighted with how his side turned the match around before cautioning that the tie was still wide open.
"Winning (here) gives us great satisfaction, it's incredible for us and not something this club is used to," he said. "I'm very pleased with the result and the performance, we showed great personality.
"If there is one club who are capable of turning a tie around, it's Real, they have the history and experience in this competition to do it."
City went into the match with a two-year ban from European competitions hanging over the club for infringing Uefa's rules on financial fair play. An appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport has since been lodged.
But they did not let the possible suspension distract them from the task at hand, with Guardiola springing a tactical surprise.
The former Barcelona boss, who masterminded his sixth career win at Real, omitted usual starters Fernandinho, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero, instead using de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva as central attackers in a 4-4-2 formation, with Jesus on the left.
It paid off handsomely, with City enjoying one of the finest European nights in their history.
De Bruyne said: "In the four years we are here with Pep, we had some surprises and even the players, they don't really know until the game starts what we need to do. This is a really good start for us."
Guardiola was equally proud of his players' character, adding: "We cannot control what happened off the pitch, only on the pitch, and the players want to do it. Hopefully, the board, lawyers, can convince Uefa we didn't do wrong things, only nice things."
Real coach Zinedine Zidane could only lament his team's errors at the back, claiming "we didn't deserve it".
While they face an uphill task at the Etihad in the reverse fixture on March 17 and will miss Ramos, he put on a brave front, insisting the La Liga giants remain "capable to go there and win".
In Lyon, Lucas Tousart's strike gave the hosts a 1-0 win over an unusually subdued Juventus side.
REUTERS, THE GUARDIAN
