Gianluigi Donnarumma tears into apathetic Manchester City display against Real Madrid | OneFootball

Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has given his teammates a reality check ahead of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 return leg against Real Madrid.

The Blues were taken to the cleaners by Alvaro Arbeloa and co at the Santiago Bernabeu as a sensational first-half hat-trick from Federico Valverde sealed a dominant 3-0 win for Los Blancos in the first leg on Wednesday night.

Pep Guardiola‘s men have a mountain to climb back at the Etihad Stadium as they prepare to face West Ham in the Premier League at the weekend to restore confidence to take into the second leg.

City retain slim hopes of a turnaround after Donnarumma pulled off a monumental penalty save from Vinicius Jr. on the hour mark in the Spanish capital, drawing praise from Guardiola as the Blues look to forego Wednesday’s woes and regroup for a season-defining run of games in the next month.

What has Gianluigi Donnarumma said ahead of the return leg between Manchester City and Real Madrid?

Donnarumma was involved in a heated exchange with referee Maurizio Mariani upon Real Madrid being awarded a penalty for the Italy international’s challenge on Vinicius Jr.

Manchester City have to swallow their pills and dissect what went wrong for them at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Guardiola raised eyebrows with his selection – by naming a two-man midfield of Bernardo Silva and Rodri, fielding Nico O’Reilly at left-back and bringing Abdukodir Khusanov in for the regular Matheus Nunes at right-back.

In an interview with Sky Italia after City’s defeat in midweek, Donnarumma said: “We have to play completely different (against Real Madrid) in the return leg,” as relayed by Sport Witness.

“I’m disappointed because we lost badly but we’re playing at home and hope to turn the situation around. With our fans, it’ll definitely be different. They have to give us an unprecedented boost but they’ll definitely do it – they’re special.”

Do Guardiola’s players believe they can turn this around?

Many Manchester City first-team stars came out and expressed their belief in a turnaround at the Etihad Stadium after an embarrassing first leg defeat in Spain.

Guardiola will need to put all his eggs in one basket against Real Madrid and field a starting XI in accordance against West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday night.

City have a near fully-fit squad and are close to welcoming Mateo Kovacic back to action, so Guardiola has plenty of ammunition to throw everything he has at Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium next week.

The Blues will face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final next weekend and Guardiola will be desperate to turn a corner in the next week or so before his side face off against their title rivals at Wembley.