Ruben Dias says Manchester City's players must believe they can pull off a miracle in Madrid to keep alive their Champions League hopes.
Real Madrid staged a dramatic late comeback to score twice late on and snatch a 3-2 win in the first leg of their Champions League play-off at City. Pep Guardiola's side now face a huge challenge in beating Real to progress to the last 16 in the return leg in the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Holders Real, who have won the competition a record 15 times, are heavy favourites to reach the knockout stages at City's expense. But City defender Dias warned Real that Guardiola's side still have the firepower to overhaul them - as long as they believe they can do it.
"Now it's a matter of belief,” said Dias. “How much do we believe in ourselves and believe we can go through? Obviously, we're aware. We know exactly the game that we're going to play there.
"We've been there before and it will only be about how much we believe in ourselves. We just need to accept the moment we're in. What we did before is not enough. We need to do even better, because we're in the moment we are.
"We have to embrace it and become much, much better, otherwise we won't be able to make it. But the good thing is that in this team and this club, if we believe enough in ourselves and if we believe enough we're going to win it, we can do everything.
"We have enough gunpower to pull off anything. But we need to believe in it.” Dias admitted City's players were devastated on Tuesday after throwing away a 2-1 lead with four minutes left to play.
It was the latest capitulation in a crisis-hit season for soon-to-be-deposed Premier League champions City, with Dias acknowledging their despair.
"We're upset with it and of course it's frustrating,” said Dias. “You can't let it go the way we did. We need to do better. It's as simple as that, because in the end we can say all we want to say, but you cannot allow it.
"I don't even know what to say. It's not an easy one to take, especially after the game we played. To let it go the way we did in the end, it's just very frustrating."