Michael Owen expects and to enjoy comfortable victories in the this week as they look to set up an all-English final.
Premier League title rivals Man City and Liverpool meet Real Madrid and Villarreal respectively in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
’s side, who are currently one point above Liverpool in the Premier League, knocked out in the previous round as they chase an elusive Champions League title.
Liverpool, meanwhile, secured an in the quarter-finals as they bid to win the Champions League for a second time under Jurgen Klopp.
Real Madrid and Villarreal should not be underestimated, however, with Madrid and Villarreal in the last round of the Champions League.
Despite the success of the Spanish sides, Owen believes Manchester City and Liverpool will take big steps to reaching the Champions League final in the first legs of their semi-final ties this week.
Manchester City v Real Madrid
‘What a tie this should be! City were impressive at the weekend, and they’ll enter this with some confidence. We all know how desperate City are to win the Champions League, I’m expecting a good performance.
‘Real have done so well to get to this round, but I’m not entirely sure how they’ve done it. Chelsea had plenty of chances to knock them out in the quarters, I don’t think City will be as wasteful.
‘I’ll never write off Real in this competition, but I have to favour City. City will keep the ball and I can see them frustrating this Real side. I think Real will score, but I’m going for a 3-1 City win.’
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Liverpool v Villarreal
‘It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but Liverpool’s win over Everton was a massive win.
‘I actually think that will be a good warm-up game for this, Villareal will play a very similar way to Everton. They’ll sit deep and try to frustrate Liverpool.
‘Villareal are very organised, and in Emery, have a coach who excels in cup competitions. They’re dangerous on the break, and the likes of [Arnaut] Danjuma are a threat.
‘I still think Liverpool will do enough to get the win, don’t rule out more Divock Origi heroics! 2-0 Liverpool.’
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Manchester City, who reached the Champions League final last season before suffering a 1-0 defeat to Premier League rivals Chelsea, need ‘two exceptional games’ to overcome Real Madrid, according to Guardiola.
‘It is not necessary to say how good Real Madrid are,’ said Guardiola.
‘If we have to compete with their history, we don’t have any chance. The history is there, we can’t change it, but it’s 11 against 11 with one ball moving.
‘We will try to be ourselves, compete well. We need to play two exceptional games to reach the final.’
Klopp, meanwhile, says he expects a ‘really difficult’ game against Villarreal, who have impressed under former Arsenal boss Unai Emery.
‘I never take something like this for granted,’ the Reds manager said. ‘I’m really, really happy.
‘It’s going to be really, really difficult against Villarreal but it’s the semi-final of the Champions League – if it wasn’t difficult there would be something wrong.’
After the midweek Champions League fixtures, Manchester City and Liverpool return to Premier League action next weekend against Leeds United and Newcastle United respectively.
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