MADRID, March 10 (Reuters) - Manchester City return to the Bernabeu on Wednesday with Pep Guardiola insisting his team arrive in far better shape than the injury‑stricken group that fell to Real Madrid in the Champions League playoff round last season.
"We arrive better in terms of we have the squad," Guardiola said. "Last season we arrived with a lot of fatigue and so few players available."
City play Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, with the second leg scheduled for March 17 in Manchester. City were eliminated by Madrid by an aggregate score of 6-3 last season.
City will be boosted by the return of Erling Haaland after the striker sat out their 3-1 fifth-round FA Cup win over Newcastle United at the weekend.
"We play 11 against 11 tomorrow," he said. "When you have everybody fit and play in a lot of competitions and games, of course it is better to rotate. Fresh legs and fresh minds."
January signings Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi are in line for their first Champions League appearances, and Guardiola believes there is no better introduction.
"As quick as they start to live these kind of situations, the better it will be for the future of this club," he said.
Guardiola acknowledged the scale of the challenge playing Real Madrid in their raucous home stadium, but it is nothing they have not faced before.
"You have to face the opponent with incredible respect, but look in their eyes and say 'okay, this is who we are as a team'," he said. "And you have to do it. Maybe you are lucky and go through.
"If we are not able to handle this situation when we play at Anfield or Old Trafford or Emirates or Stamford Bridge or Bayern Munich or PSG ... you have to live that. It is better to be here than not to be here.
"I prefer to be here and come to this stadium in the last‑16 because that means we are in more or less the elite of Europe. This club was never there 12 or 13 years ago, so as much as you play these games, it is always learning and always experience for the future.
"Of course we want to go through and are going to give everything to go through next Tuesday and continue."
City's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who lifted the Champions League trophy last season with Paris St Germain, believes this year's competition is wide open.
"There are some teams that can make it to the final, there are many strong and tough teams," he said. "If you speak about last season, before the round of 16 nobody thought that PSG could be a strong candidate to win the final, but things can change overnight. It depends on the timing and how fit the team is."
Donnarumma warned that the margins are razor‑thin.
"We are about to play games where you are in or out," he said. "You need to manage things properly, you have two games ... In the Champions League details are everything and they can make the difference."
(Reporting by Lori EwingEditing by Toby Davis)
