Former Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez has warned Manchester City about his old club saving their best performances for the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola's team are seen as favourites for the two-legged semi-final which begins on Tuesday night at the Bernabeu. City will be hoping to avoid the same fate which plagued them the last time they visited the Spanish capital though.
Two late goals from Rodrygo and an extra-time winner from Karim Benzema saw the Blues knocked out of the Champions League at the last four stage. Afterwards, Guardiola was left ruing his team's missed chances but Erling Haaland's addition in the summer appears to have solved this issue.
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The Norwegian has scored 51 goals this season and Benitez is a fan of the 22-year-old. However, speaking to the Daily Mail, the ex-Liverpool and Newcastle man sent a word of warning to the Premier League leaders.
"With Haaland he [Guardiola] has someone who is capable of linking play but is more dangerous when he has space in behind and can use the counter-attack," Benitez explained. "Now they have a striker who can run behind defenders and head the ball, so they can be threat in both ways.
"When I was coach at Real Madrid in 2015, one of the players said to me: 'We will give our best in February [when the Champions League starts again]. They know in the domestic league they will win the majority of games but when they have to compete for the big trophies, they have to give everything.
"Ever since I was a kid at Real in youth teams, finishing second was a disaster. That mentality goes through all the teams."
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