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Pep Guardiola insisted revenge was not his motivation as he prepares Manchester City for their Champions League semi-final rematch with Real Madrid. City were beaten in heartbreaking fashion by the Spanish giants in the last four a year ago and have a chance to make amends this term. The first leg of their latest encounter takes place at the Bernabeu on Tuesday and Guardiola is focusing on the game in hand rather than looking back 12 months. The City manager said: “It was tough but we made an exceptional first game in Manchester and played a really good game here. “In general it was a good performance but it was not enough. You congratulate them and accept it and now one year later we are here. “We are not here for revenge. It is another opportunity. One day we will get it. We will get to the final and win it. “It didn’t happen last season as we played Real Madrid and in this competition they know exactly what they have to do.” Guardiola admitted, however, last season’s loss was hard to stomach at the time. City controlled the tie in the second leg and looked on course for the final, leading 1-0 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate heading into injury time. We are not here for revenge. It is another opportunity. One day we will get it. We will get to the final and win it. Pep Guardiola Yet they dramatically capitulated, conceding twice in quick succession and going on to lose in extra time. It added to the catalogue of near misses experienced by the club since Guardiola took charge in 2016, which includes defeat in the 2021 final. Guardiola said: “Seven years ago we wanted to win the Champions League. Last season it was (like) the end of the world but here we are again. “Being stable is the most important thing. The important thing is we are trying to get better every year. “We were prepared last year too. We are the same manager, mainly the same players but completely different games. “The difference is the second leg is at home and everything will be decided in Manchester.” Unlike Guardiola, midfielder Rodri admitted revenge was on his mind. The Spain midfielder said: “Football gives you the option to have revenge. “We have the philosophy you can always learn from past experiences. We did a great two games but football is like this and we didn’t go through. “We will fight again. We will try to learn from what we did bad in that moment.” City are without defender Nathan Ake after the Netherlands international suffered a calf injury in Saturday’s Premier League victory over Leeds. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Dwight McNeil bags brace as Everton ease past Brighton in battle against PL drop Alex Sanderson confirms interest in bringing Luke Cowan-Dickie to Sale Sharks Lionel Messi cherishes ‘special honour’ after winning Laureus award in Paris

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Jose Mourinho has claimed Tottenham are the only one of his former clubs to which he does not feel any connection. The Portuguese, 60, spent 17 months at Spurs but was sacked by chairman Daniel Levy in April 2021 just a week before they were to play Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. Mourinho had previously managed Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United, and has subsequently taken charge at Roma, winning the Europa Conference League and leading them to the final of this season’s Europa League, where they play Sevilla next Wednesday. Speaking ahead of that fixture, Mourinho told a press conference: “I hope the Tottenham fans don’t get me wrong but the only club in my career where I don’t have still a deep feeling for is Tottenham. “Probably because the stadium was empty, Covid time. Probably because Mr Levy didn’t let me win a final and win a trophy.” Mourinho, who has been linked with a move to Paris St Germain this summer, was responding to a question about his future with Roma. “We will be connected forever, like I am with all my previous clubs, apart from Mr Levy’s club,” he said. “It’s the only one, so after that – Porto, Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, Manchester United – all the clubs I feel a connection. Maybe people (will say) you cannot love every club – yes, I love every club.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Lewis Hamilton had hoped his revamped Mercedes would have propelled him closer to the front after he finished sixth in practice for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton’s Mercedes team arrived for the sixth round of the season in the sun-cooked principality armed with a major upgrade. But after an encouraging start – with Hamilton briefly heading the order in the opening running of the weekend – the British driver ended the day half-a-second behind Max Verstappen, who finished fastest for Red Bull. George Russell was only 12th in the other Mercedes. “It is a shame we were not as close as I hoped we would be at the end of the session,” said Hamilton. “In P1, I thought, ‘Wow, maybe we’re looking pretty good’, but in P2 we were close to half-a-second off. I don’t think we have half a second in the bag. “We’ve just got to keep chipping away to see if we can squeeze any more juice out of the cup.” After giving up on this season’s car on the eve of the opening race in Bahrain, Mercedes have spent the ensuing dozen weeks working on a new design philosophy. The Silver Arrows have abandoned their controversial zero-sidepod concept and introduced a new front suspension, new floor and cooling system in a drastic change of development on a car which has contributed to the longest losing streak of Hamilton’s career. On Sunday, it will be 539 days since Hamilton last stood on the top step of the podium at the penultimate round of the contentious 2021 season in Saudi Arabia. And although Mercedes are keen not to draw too many conclusions at this week’s unique Monte Carlo configuration – and believe the following round at the well-trodden Circuit de Catalunya venue on the outskirts of Barcelona will present them with a better understanding of where they stand – the evidence of practice suggests they are no closer to providing a real challenge to Red Bull. Hamilton added: “It’s not really the place to test an upgrade, but the car was generally feeling good. “It’s very clear where the lack of performance is, and we will talk about that in the debrief. Hopefully this gives us a platform to build on moving forwards.” Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez are the only men to have won a race this year, but their rapid Red Bull is not necessarily suited to the narrow and slow-speed track in Monaco. However, despite Perez managing only seventh in practice, Verstappen’s pace indicates he could still be the driver to beat. Home favourite Charles Leclerc is ready to pounce – after he finished just 0.065 seconds back – with his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, who crashed out of second practice remaining following a mistake at the high-speed swimming pool chicane, third. Fernando Alonso could be a contender, too. The Aston Martin driver, 41, took fourth spot, 0.220 sec adrift of Verstappen. Lando Norris finished fifth in his McLaren. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Lewis Hamilton: Racist abuse of Vinicius Junior really hits home for me Bernie Ecclestone would be surprised if Lewis Hamilton wanted to leave Mercedes Lewis Hamilton insists right decision is made as Emilia Romagna GP cancelled

Today's USMNT news includes Lyon and AC Milan battling to sign Christian Pulisic. Fulham aretargeting Yunus Musah and the Stars and Stripes put six past Trinidad and Tobago. USMNT news: Christian Pulisic to LyonChristian Pulisic had looked set to join AC Milan but now Lyon has stepped up th...