After beating Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round, Manchester City will have to face Real Madrid in the semi-final.

This is the first time in their history that they will be participating at this stage of the Champions League, and their manager has acknowledged that this is a step forward for the club.

Manuel Pellegrini, who will be leaving at the end of this season, declared that it is crucial for him that Manchester City have qualified for the semi-finals since this mean he has accomplished his job. He said that he was brought to City because of his European experience and taking the team to this stage of this competition means that he is doing his job.

Pellegrini will be facing his old club which he managed during the 2009-2010 season. He was sacked after a poor season where Real Madrid was eliminated early in the Champions League and for losing the title to Barcelona. This will be an excellent opportunity for the Chilean manager to get revenge on his old club.

On the other hand, Real Madrid’s manager Zinedine Zidane has declared that this is not going to be an easy tie. With reports in Spain saying that Madrid has avoided stronger opponents such as Atletico and Bayern Munich, Zidane was keen to stress that there are no small teams at this stage of the tournament.

He reminded the media that they lost the first leg of the tie against Wolfsburg and that facing Manchester City is not going to be easy either. Zidane declared that the only positive thing in this tie was that they will be playing at home for the return match.

Whatever the outcome might be, the truth is that Manchester City has reached a new milestone in their history, and Manuel Pellegrini has contributed to that.