Real Madrid will have “two luxury signings” for the Champions League tie against Manchester City next month, according to MARCA.
The Spanish and English giants met in the quarterfinals, in what will be their third consecutive meeting in the round of 16.
It can be said that lately the score is tied 1-1, with Madrid winning 6-5 on aggregate in the 2021/2022 semi-finals before winning the final against Liverpool, while City won 5-1 on aggregate last season and then lifted the trophy with big ears for the first time in their history at the expense of Inter Milan.
Ancelotti, defiant in his pre-match press conference after Friday’s draw, said “we don’t care” about the second leg at the Etihad, where his men lost 4-0 last season.
While he admits City are one of Europe’s group holders, holding the UCL record as a manager, he leads a team that has also been king of the continent more times than any other team, under the pressure that “being the man, you have to beat him”.
“The idea is to win the competition, and to do that you have to beat the most productive. City could possibly be one of the most productive in Europe at the moment, it will be difficult of course. But if you need to be European champions, it has to be City,” said the Italian.
Ancelotti refuses to choose a favourite for this appetising tie that he considers to be tied.
“It’s going to be a wonderful quarter-final and we’re going to play it with confidence. I don’t know what they’re going to think there [in Manchester], it’ll be like here. One year we won and the next year they won. . . Let’s see,” he suggested.
According to MARCA, however, Madrid have some aces up their sleeve with the return of what they have dubbed two “luxury signings”.
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao were absent at the start of the season due to anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
And although it is not yet imaginable to say that they will be at 100 per cent for the quarter-finals, the Real Madrid manager “has no doubts. . . that for the match against Manchester City, he will be able to count on the Belgian and the Brazilian. “
In his absence, Andriy Lunin and Antonio Rudiger did a great job that saw Madrid move seven places away from La Liga and advance as they did on the continent.