Uefa needs to check their rules--Pep Guardiola for Manchester city

 Just months after conquering them in their own backyard, Manchester City have been thrown straight back into battle with Real Madrid — and Pep Guardiola isn’t happy.

The City boss has branded the revamped format “weird” after discovering his side will face the Spanish giants in the last 16 — despite already beating them in the league phase earlier this season.

It marks the fifth consecutive year the two European heavyweights have collided in the competition. But under UEFA’s expanded system, there’s nothing stopping familiar foes from meeting again almost immediately — something Guardiola believes should be reconsidered.

“Yes, it’s a little bit weird,” he admitted. “It looks different. People will agree or disagree — but it is different.”

City stunned Madrid at the Bernabeu just over two months ago. Now, they must do it all over again in a high-stakes knockout tie that already feels like a final.

Guardiola stopped short of launching a full-scale attack on UEFA, but he did question whether tweaks should be made to avoid repeat matchups so early in the knockout rounds.

“Why not change it?” he shrugged. “The calendar keeps expanding, the format keeps changing. We just have to adapt.”

Despite concerns that City may be on the tougher side of the draw, Guardiola dismissed the idea entirely — insisting there are no easy paths in Europe’s elite competition.

“If you want to win this tournament, you have to beat the best,” he said. “Otherwise, you don’t deserve it.”

With the final looming in Budapest at the end of May, the road to glory now runs — once again — through Real Madrid. And Guardiola has made one thing clear: if the rules won’t change, City must.