Manchester City’s defensive midfielder Rodrigo believes that his side can down Real Madrid in the semi-final of the ongoing UEFA Champions League.
City will face Madrid in the first leg of the UCL semi-final on Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“We respect a lot, Real Madrid,” Rodrigo told journalists at Monday’s pre-match press conference in Madrid on Monday.
“They are the king of the competition - but we have weapons, and they know that. We are in a good moment.
"We respect them - and nothing will be decided tomorrow. We have weapons and we trust 100% we are able to qualify [for the final].”
City were close to eliminating Real Madrid last season at the same stage of the competition but two late goals by winger Rodrygo, in the second leg, turned the tie in favour of the Los Blancos.
“I have the philosophy and so do my teammates, that you can learn from past experience," he said.
"We did a great two games, but we did not go through. But we are here again to fight - with motivation. We have been very, very good this year and we arrive here in the best moment.
“Football is like this sometimes. We did 180 minutes brilliantly but it’s not enough. Sometimes you lose the leg in five minutes. The last minutes in that leg we didn't handle it in the right way.
"We learn from that. Football is like this. I don't like to talk much about the past. We changed a lot of things.
"And the way we are coming now is another year, another goal, and we will fight again like last season, but with the hunger of getting revenge.”
The Spaniard was also happy with his side’s performance this season, which sees them sit at the top of the Premier League table with four matches remaining and have also booked their spot in the FA Cup final.
“To be honest the whole year we have been very, very good,” Rodrigo says.
“Maybe the results weren’t but now we are in a moment where we identify exactly what we have to do.
"We are clever, we score when we need to score, and we know big teams like us need to identify the moments we push a bit more. This is why we have won 10 games in a row in the Premier League.
"We have to step forward now - individually and collectively - and that is something we have understood since February, March until now.
“I can talk about my club - the philosophy we have, new players coming in. We try to teach this level of ambition every year, and of hunger.
"When you win, win, win you are closer to winning but you need to go again. We have top-quality players. We have been unbelievable in the last years and this year we will fight for everything.”