Manchester City used Liverpool's win over Newcastle this weekend to motivate them to three important points at Leeds, giving them confidence going into this week's Champions League trip to Madrid.
The big games keep coming for City and Liverpool, who both have Champions League semi-final second legs this week after Saturday Premier League games. Liverpool temporarily moved top of the table with a 1-0 win at Newcastle, before City responded later in the day at Elland Road with a well-earned 4-0 win over Leeds.
Speaking after the win in Yorkshire, defender Aymeric Laporte said that the squad had watched Liverpool's game and the result put pressure on them to respond.
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He said: “It was very important to win today and we did it. We need to continue the same way. We knew Liverpool had won earlier today and they keep getting good results, so we had to do it as well. I think we have been at a great level all season and today we managed to respond to the pressure with another solid performance.
"Of course, we watch Liverpool games and results, but we only focus on ourselves and to make sure we do our job.”
Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan agreed, saying that the players who came into the City line-up at Leeds were important in keeping their title push going.
“We have to [be in great shape]. If you want to compete in these kinds of stages, you need to take care of yourself and you need to be the best possible version of yourself," he explained.
"Not just individually, but also as a team. Today we changed the team a little bit and we had quite a few players come in that didn’t play against Madrid in the week. Obviously, it is important for everyone to be ready for this game and that is going to help us to maintain that level.”
Regarding the Real game, both players admitted that the squad is in a confident mood following their 4-3 first leg victory, with last year's Champions League final defeat also a source of motivation.
Gundogan said: “We are going to play away and we are going to play in a great stadium against a great team. They are one of the greatest teams in history so you can feel how much of a challenge it is. For us, it is the second time in a row that we are in the semi-final of the Champions League. It is huge for us and for the club, but I feel like there is still a long way to go and we want to get to the final again like last year.
"We want to make it better than last year, so we are going to be prepared for next Wednesday, we are full of confidence and it is going to be a great game I am sure.”
Laporte added: “I think we did a very good match in the first leg, we would have liked to finish with a bigger margin. We know Real Madrid has a good story in this competition, but we are going to Madrid very confident to play a good match and secure the qualification to the Champions League final."
