Pep Guardiola has hailed Real Madrid as the kings of Europe ahead of their Champions League clash on Wednesday.

City will meet the 13-time champions in the last-16, with the first leg on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

And former Barcelona coach Guardiola insists he has the greatest respect for Los Blancos.

"I have an incredible admiration for this club," he told reporters.

"The players who have played there have played so many times in the [Champions League] final and I don't know how many times each one has lifted it.

"Maybe Claudio [Bravo] has won the Champions League and someone else. We don't have many players who have won it. But we need the desire to win it and be ourselves, We could win it or lose it.

"But we must be ourselves in the 180 minutes against Real Madrid. It is the real, real test."