Tuesday 26 April 2016 20:13, UK
Gareth Bale admits he is shocked that Manchester City had never reached the semi-final of the Champions League before this season.
The Real Madrid star is all set to start against Manuel Pellegrini's side at the Etihad on Tuesday night in a game that marks the Manchester club's debut in the final four.
Bale was full of praise for the Premier League outfit at Monday's pre-match press conference, noting: "You don't get this far on luck and any of the teams would have been difficult. We're excited and are looking forward to it.
"I'm surprised that they haven't got to this stage before now. They're a top Premier League team and are getting that way in Europe. They've worked very hard, but tomorrow we want to halt their rise."
Both sides won their respective Champions League groups and have lost one match apiece in their European exploits this season.
While City got theirs out of the way in the group stages against Juventus, Madrid endured their blip in the quarter-final against Wolfsburg and had to come back from a 2-0 defeat in the first leg to win 3-2 on aggregate. Bale knows his side need to improve to beat City in the last four.
"We're confident and we'll be going out to win," he told reporters. "In Wolfsburg we had a tough time of things but we've looked at our mistakes and we've got to impose ourselves and try to win the game.
"This is one of the reasons why you become a footballer, to play in these types of games and to win trophies. This is a big match and we all like these sort of occasions. We have to score and not concede."
The Welshman has impressed in Spain and returns to England as a Real Madrid success story on Tuesday. Some praise this season must go to manager Zinedine Zidane, who replaced now-Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez in January and has acclimatised well to the Bernabeu dugout.
Of his 21 matches in charge, Madrid have won a massive 17, and Bale hopes to play under the former midfielder for a long time to come.
"Zidane has been great since he's come in," Bale continued. "He's given us confidence and has allowed us to express ourselves out on the pitch, and that's when we play our best football. I hope that he stays on for a long time."
