Jack Grealish is confident he will reach the Champions League final after Manchester City bounced back to draw in the first leg of the semi-final against Real Madrid.
Kevin De Bruyne equalized at the Bernabéu on Tuesday night as City came from behind to draw 1-1 on an equally brilliant debut from Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior.
The result leaves the draw delicately balanced ahead of next week’s second leg at Etihad Stadium.
City are looking to avenge their loss to Real Madrid at the same stage last season and Grealish believes the Premier League side’s home record gives them an advantage.
The England midfielder told BT Sport: “This year we have a new team, different players.
“We have learned so much from last year. We now have the perfect balance of experience and a few world class young people.
“I think we just have the quality and I’ve never felt so confident going out on the field and having these players around me.
“At Etihad, we feel unstoppable. We came here to try and win, but it shows our character to lose a goal – it’s always difficult to play in such a place.
“In the end, I think it was a fair result. They had their chances, we also had a few.”
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City were in control for much of the early game, but Real Madrid withstood the pressure and hit them with a beautiful goal on the counterattack.
City manager Josep Guardiola praised his team for how they fought back under intense pressure.
Guardiola said: “It was a very tight game. Congratulations to the team because this team (Real Madrid) is always so difficult because of their history and also because of their quality.
“We started very well and when we got better they made an incredible transition (and scored).
“When they were better than us in the second half, we scored. It’s open for Manchester, it’s going to be the final for our people and we’re looking forward to it.”
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was booked due to commotion on the touchline as De Bruyne celebrated the equalizer in the 67th minute.
The Italian later revealed that he had complained that the ball had fallen out of play ahead of City’s goal. He also claimed to have seen evidence that he was right.
Ancelotti said: “The ball was out of bounds. Tech said it and I don’t understand why VAR didn’t check it
“Today the judge did not pay attention to many things.”
However, Ancelotti was quite pleased with the performance of his team and the state of the draw.
He said: “We have to play like that again next week. Our strategy was good, we didn’t worry when they had the ball.
“Then the second half was completely different. We had the ball and created chances. We are very satisfied. “