Former City forward Carlos Tevez insists Manchester City can enter our Champions League semi-final clash with Real Madrid full of confidence.

Pep Guardiola’s men are just two matches from a second successive Champions League final but to secure our spot in Paris’ showpiece, we need to get the better of Los Blancos.

Looking ahead to the game, Tevez is predicting a tight affair against the 13-times winners, but believes City are ready to face the challenge.

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“It’s a 50/50 tie”, the Argentine said in an interview with mancity.com.

“I’m very happy to see City in this position, fighting against the greatest teams in Europe.

“It has not been possible to win the Champions League yet, but I think the most important thing is that after ten years City are playing as equals against teams like Real Madrid and as it did on the last tie against Atlético.

“It is very gratifying to see what City have become in these ten years. It is something impressive. We have gone from fighting in the middle of the league table to doing on an equal footing with the biggest (in Europe).

“It is an achievement that we all must feel proud”.

Tevez signed for City in August 2009 and during his four-year spell with the Club produced some iconic moments.

Indeed, the Argentinian famously wore the FA Cup’s lid like a hat following our 1-0 triumph over Stoke in the 2011 final, the Club’s first trophy since 1976.

One year later he was influential as City ended a 44-year wait for the league title in dramatic fashion thanks to Sergio Aguero’s winning strike against Queens Park Rangers.

After 125 appearances, 74 goals and three trophies, Tevez departed for Juventus in 2013, but the Argentine started at the Bernabéu when City first faced Real Madrid back in that season’s Champions League campaign.

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Roberto Mancini’s side went into the final five minutes 2-1 ahead thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko and Aleksandr Kolarov, but two late goals from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo gave Los Blancos the three points.

While those initial steps the Champions League now seem a distant memory to Tevez, he believes they played an essential part in helping the Club settle itself in the European elite during the last decade.

“Nowadays it is completely different. Today Real Madrid are the one that have to be concerned about facing City”, he declared.

“This is the advantage that City now have. Today the opponents have to look at what City are capable to do.

“With the players we have now and the infrastructure City have been building during the years we can fight as equals against any team in Europe.”

Asked to share his thoughts on City’s race for the Premier League title with Liverpool, Tevez has described the final few weeks of the campaign as a game of chess.

Guardiola’s men sit four points clear of the Reds with five matches of the season remaining, but that lead could be reduced back to one should Liverpool beat Everton in Sunday’s Merseyside derby.

With Liverpool also reaching the last four of the Champions League, a showpiece final between the Premier League’s top two also remains a real possibility.

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On the battle for domestic supremacy, Tevez said: “It is going to be tough. City and Liverpool know each other quite well.

“Both managers, Pep (Guardiola) and (Jurgen) Klopp, also do. It is almost like a chess game between them.

“In these circumstances, the one that shows more desire of winning, is going to get it. The one that gives it all, that shows more hunger, will succeed.”