LONDON
\nReal Madrid and Villarreal stand in the way of Manchester City and Liverpool taking their battle for domestic honours to the biggest stage of all next month in the Champions League final.
\nA clash between City and Liverpool in Paris on May 28 would mean a third all-English final in four years.
\nThe huge economic advantage enjoyed by the Premier League in TV rights deals is behind Madrid\u2019s continued motivation to seek the comfort of guaranteed income streams from a European Super League.
\nHowever, Villarreal\u2019s run to the last four is a reminder of why there is such opposition to a closed shop ESL.
\nThe Yellow Submarine, with just one major trophy in their history, would have been shut out of competing on the European stage had the Super League 12, which also included City and Liverpool, succeeded in forming a breakaway league last year.
\nNow the team from a town with a population that would fit inside Anfield are 180 minutes away from the biggest game in club football if they can derail Liverpool\u2019s quest for a quadruple.
\nJurgen Klopp\u2019s men trail City by a point with five games to go in a thrilling Premier League title race.
\nBut they got the better of City to reach next month\u2019s FA Cup final and lifted the League Cup in February.
\nKlopp already has experience of losing out to Villarreal boss Unai Emery on the European stage as his Sevilla side beat Liverpool in the 2016 Europa League final.
\nThat was just one of Emery\u2019s four Europa League titles, the last of which came when Villarreal beat Manchester United in last year\u2019s final just to qualify for the Champions League.
\nBut Liverpool\u2019s status as favourites ahead of Wednesday\u2019s first leg at Anfield is understandable given the difference in resources between the clubs.
\nCity are also expected to reach the final for a second consecutive year despite the vast gulf in European pedigree between the English champions and Real.
\nThe 13-time European champions are into their 30th semi-final, while City have reached the last four for just the third time.
\nBut Pep Guardiola\u2019s men were convincing winners when the sides met in the last 16 two years ago.
\n\u201cIf we have to compete with their history, we don\u2019t have a chance. It speaks for itself,\u201d Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference on Monday, when reminded of the contrasting records of the two clubs, ahead of the the first leg at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
\n\u201dWe have the desire to compete against them. For us playing against them is an incredible test and we want to try it. [We will] Suffer when we suffer, [but] stick together. Try to do as best as possible.\u201d
\n\u201cIt would be the same if we face Bayern Munich or Barcelona, the teams who have been here many times. A decade ago we weren\u2019t here and now we are here. It\u2019s good lessons for the future.\u201d
\nGuardiola also talked down the significance of the role of himself and Carlo Ancelotti in the game, saying that in the Champions League, games are won by the decision-making of players on the field.
\n\u201cHistory is there, we can\u2019t change it, but it\u2019s eleven against eleven and one ball moving. The players decide their decision making,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cYou can imagine a plan but it\u2019s eleven v eleven, the quality of the [players], how strong they are, it will make a difference. This game is players, it won\u2019t be Carlo or myself who win it.\u201d
\nGuardiola highlighted the experience of the Real players, many of whom have won multiple Champions League titles.
\n\u201cWe play against players who have been in this position many times,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why they have things that maybe still we don\u2019t have. But maybe there are things we have they don\u2019t have, I don\u2019t know. At the end it is 11 v 11.\u201d
\nReal produced a remarkable fightback from 2-0 down to beat Paris St Germain in the last 16 and responded after falling 3-0 down to Chelsea at the Santiago Bernabeu to reach the semi-finals in dramatic fashion.
\nAncelotti\u2019s men will have home advantage again in the second leg next week, but there are doubts as to whether Los Blancos can continue to be carried by the ageing legs of Karim Benzema and Luka Modric.
\nThe excellence achieved in the era of Klopp and Guardiola in England\u2019s north-west has seen Liverpool and City persistently rewrite the record books.
\nOver the next 10 days they have the chance to prove they are the two best sides in Europe by ending La Liga\u2019s challenge to English dominance of the Champions League.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Real Madrid and Villarreal stand in the way of Manchester City and Liverpool taking their battle for domestic honours to the biggest stage of all next month in the Champions League final. A clash between City and Liverpool in Paris on May 28 would mean a third all-English final in four years. The huge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6499,6498],"class_list":{"0":"post-257609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","9":"tag-spanish-challenge"},"yoast_head":"\n