GUINGAMP, France (Reuters) – Real Madrid hope to avoid Manchester City in the next round, manager Carlo Ancelotti said after they beat Brest 3-0 on Wednesday to reach the Champions League playoff where they will be seeded.
The holders will face either Celtic or Manchester City in the two-legged playoff on February, with the second leg at home.
“We don’t like to play against City, but if we have to, we’ll do it like on other occasions,” Ancelotti told a press conference when asked whether he preferred to be drawn against the Cityzens or the Scots.
“City have more chances to win the Champions League.”
He also told Movistar: “It’s a draw and what comes, comes. To win the Champions League you have to win every game.”
The draw will be held on Friday in Nyon in Switzerland.
“If we want to win this competition we have to beat the best teams,” Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois also said.
The Spaniards missed direct qualification to the last 16 due to a poor start in the league phase with three losses during the first five matches.
“We should have woken up earlier in this competition. Now it’s like this,” Ancelotti said.
Rodrygo, who scored a double, acknowledged his team had fallen short. “Top eight was our objective but we didn’t do well in some games. Now we have to keep improving,” he told Movistar after scoring a double.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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