On the eve of Real Madrid’s Champions League playoff first leg at Manchester City, Carlo Ancelotti billed the clash between the sides as a “clásico”.
Madrid’s trip to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night and the return at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday next week will be the fifth time in six years the sides have played each other in the knockout phase. While the Spanish and English champions have each previously progressed twice, Ancelotti was clear about how he rates encounters between them.
“It seems like it’s a clásico because we have played each other a lot of times in this competition,” the Italian said. “It will depend a lot on the attitude and confidence of the teams. It’s such a high-level game you have to be your best at every aspect. Yes, it is the best rival with the best manager, the team that passed through this qualification [their tie] has the possibility to arrive far in the competition.”
Real Madrid lead La Liga, while City are fifth in the Premier League, 15 points behind Liverpool. Yet Ancelotti believes Pep Guardiola’s side is the hardest foe they could have drawn. “They are one of the best teams in Europe, they have the best manager out there so its the most difficult game we can face regardless of form.”
Ancelotti praised Guardiola. “It’s a nightmare preparing against him because he always has ideas that make you think. He has always tried to play well, brought a great deal to football in terms of attacking play, bringing the ball out from the back and he has been an innovator and continues to be.”
Ancelotti has to negotiate a defensive crisis after Lucas Vázquez, the makeshift right-back, joined Antonio Rüdiger, David Alaba, Éder Militão and Dani Carvajal on the injured list when sustaining a foot injury in the weekend 1-1 draw against Atlético Madrid. Fede Valverde, a midfielder, is poised to start at right-back and Fran García on the other flank with the 21-year-old defender Raúl Asencio and the France midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni in the middle of defence. “I think we can be competitive despite the crisis we have,” he said.
The Spanish club boycotted the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris last year in protest over Rodri winning the award over Vinícius Junior. Ancelotti insisted this was correct. “I don’t think it was the wrong decision,” the 65-year-old coach said.
“We thought that Vini was the winner that year. It doesn’t mean we don’t respect Rodri because he is a fantastic player, we thought that Rodri deserved to win the year before [when City won the treble].”
