'Before it was Barcelona, now it's Real Madrid' - Pep Guardiola suggests former club has fallen below their chief Spanish rivals

• Pep hints at changing of guard in Spain
• City thrashed Bayern in Champions League
• But fears Real Madrid in semi-final

WHAT HAPPENED? Following Manchester City's dominant two-leg display over Bayern Munich to ease into the Champions League semi-final for a third successive season, manager Pep Guardiola discussed the difficulties of progressing in such a competition when fighting for more than one piece of silverware at a time. He also appeared to suggest that former club Barcelona had fallen off their perch over in Spain as the club to beat.

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WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking in his post-match press conference, Guardiola explained: "What we have done is incredible - three Champions League semi-finals. I think all the clubs around the world had the feeling that if you want to win the competition, you have to beat Real Madrid.

"Before it was Barcelona, now it's Real Madrid."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Barcelona have been riddled with financial hurdles to jump in the last few years following a lengthy period of misspending that did not wield the success they hoped in Europe. The Blaugrana have failed to win a Champions League since 2015, while Real Madrid have dominated the competition, and have spent the last two seasons competing in the Europa League.

After dropping out of the Champions League into a Europa League play-off this season, they failed to make it past Manchester United over two legs.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? City go on to face Los Blancos in the last four of the Champions League, and having already dispatched of Bayern, are quite possibly primed to go all the way. If they can see off the defending champions, there's no reason why they shouldn't.

Barcelona, meanwhile, are enjoying a resurgence in La Liga and look to have beaten Real to the title, though they are disappointed by their performances in Europe.