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Pep Guardiola says he would love to have played with "one of the best" Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane

Pep Guardiola has admitted that he would love to have played alongside Zinedine Zidane during his career.

Guardiola will lock horns with the Real Madrid manager when his Manchester City side face the La Liga giants in the Champions League round of 16.

And Guardiola says he would have relished the opportunity to line up in the same team as the one-time Ballon d'Or winner.

"It's a special moment because Zidane is one of the best," he said. "I dreamed when I was a player with playing with him, but it never happened.

"I didn't talk much with him, but my impression is that he is an amazing person, I admire him, it's really good to have these kind of people. It will be a pleasure to see you again. 

"Madrid is the king of this competition. It is an incredible test for us, we will prepare the best we can. We will see in February what our condition is and what is that of Madrid. We will try and play two good matches.

They have more experience than we do in these situations, but if you want to do well in this competition you have to face these teams. For us it is an incredible experience, I have confidence that my team will play two good games."

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Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).