Carlo Ancelotti has shared his thoughts on the possibility of Real Madrid facing Manchester City in the next round of the Champions League, following an unexpectedly disappointing league phase for both clubs.
Real Madrid, the defending champions, and Manchester City, the 2022/23 winners, started the season as top contenders for the Champions League title.
However, both teams struggled to find consistency during the league phase and missed out on finishing in the top eight, which would have guaranteed automatic qualification for the last 16. ..Continue Reading
Manchester City had to stage a comeback to secure a 3-1 victory over Club Brugge in their crucial final league phase match at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night, while Real Madrid enjoyed a more straightforward 3-0 win against Brest away from home.
These results left Real Madrid in 11th place and Manchester City in 22nd, making City one of the unseeded teams in Friday’s draw for the knockout phase play-off round.
Real Madrid will now face either Manchester City or Celtic in the play-offs, and their manager, Ancelotti, has made it clear which opponent he would prefer to draw.
“We don’t like to play against City… [they] have more chances to win the Champions League,” Ancelotti said
“It’s a draw and what comes, comes. To win the Champions League you have to win every game.”
Ancelotti blamed Real Madrid’s slow start this campaign for their failure to make the top eight.
“We should have woken up earlier in this competition. Now it’s like this,” he added.
Bayern Munich are the other team City could draw on Friday and Pep Guardiola knows the size of the task facing his side to reach the last 16.
“Going to Bayern Munich or Real Madrid will be really tough,” he said.
“But it’s in two weeks and in two weeks we have a few players back, the new signings back, so hopefully we can do two good games.
“They are better than us right now, both of them, but I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next two weeks.
“Ruben [Dias] and Nathan [Ake] are back, Jeremy [Doku], Oscar [Bobb], new signings. If everybody comes back, we can compete.”
The knockout phase play-offs are scheduled to take place over two weeks next month, with the first legs set for February 11 and 12, followed by the second legs on February 18 and 19.
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