Pep Guardiola: Real Madrid would have sacked me last season

Pep Guardiola has backed Xabi Alonso to turn his situation around at Real Madrid despite admitting his record at Manchester City last season would have got him the sack in the Spanish capital.

Real boss Alonso, who only took charge in the summer, is already under huge pressure at the Bernabeu Stadium.

There have even been suggestions the former Liverpool midfielder could be fired if Real lose to Guardiola’s Manchester City in their Champions League clash in the Spanish capital on Wednesday.

City manager Guardiola, who coached Alonso at Bayern Munich, said: “Of course I have sympathy because we were together one year and a half, two years.

“It was an incredible experience being with him. Not just as as a manager, we share many things, families as well.

“But Barcelona and Madrid are the toughest opponents, the toughest clubs, I would say, to be a manager. They are more difficult for the pressure, for the environment.

“For what I did last season, I’d have been sacked six months before end of the season. It’s a difficult place.

“But he knows it – he has been here, he knows the reality. It’s a question of winning games.”

Real Madrid made a promising start under Alonso but have faltered since losing at Liverpool last month with rumours of dressing room dissent increasing.

They have won just two of their six games since Anfield, culminating in Saturday’s dispiriting 2-0 home loss to Celta Vigo.

Asked if he felt Madrid could be vulnerable, Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference: “I don’t agree.

“I know they have a lot of absences and I know what happens when you’re building something.

“Xabi knows perfectly what he has to do and I know what a rival we’re going to find tomorrow.

“Of course, he’s capable of doing it. That is what is required in that position, being manager for Madrid.”

Wednesday’s league stage clash is the latest chapter in a rivalry that has grown considerably in recent years.

The clubs have met in five of the previous six seasons, most recently in the play-off round last February when Real prevailed over two legs.

As one of the glamour ties of the round, Guardiola hopes his players can rise to the challenge.

He said: “We are in the group stage so it’s completely different, but all the knockout games have been tight. They have been good games.

“We have important players right now for who it’s the first time in the Bernabeu. We are a little bit in the transition.

“You have to experience this because sooner or later, you want to make a step in Europe. You have to live these experiences. It always is a good place to come to prove yourself.”

City are again without key midfielder Rodri while defender John Stones has joined the injury list with an unspecified leg problem.