Pep Guardiola named Liverpool among three clubs who can stop Real Madrid from winning the Champions League after Manchester City were dumped out in the play-off round, while Carlo Ancelotti has told Kylian Mbappe what must be done to reach Cristiano Ronaldo’s level.
Real Madrid beat Man City 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg of the Knockout Round playoffs on Wednesday evening to progress to the Round of 16 of Europe’s premier club competition 6-3 on aggregate. Having won the first leg 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium last week, the defending Spanish and European champions were favourites to go through, and Mbappe’s goal in the fourth minute set the tone in Spain.
The France international forward scored in the 33rd minute to make it 2-0 to Madrid before completing his hat-trick in the 61st minute. Nico Gonzalez’s goal in the second minute of injury time proved to be nothing but a tame consolation for Man City.
After the game, Man City boss Guardiola was full of praise for Madrid and noted how they were better than his team.
The former Bayern Munich manager admitted that Madrid are the favourites to win the Champions League this season, but he warned Los Blancos that Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona will give them a run for their money.
Metro quotes Guardiola as saying: “Of course Madrid are a contender, definitely. But there are other good teams around. It will be an interesting Champions League season.
"Madrid are always favourites for this trophy. There are other teams who are having a very good season but Madrid are always favourites."
"But there are other teams that are playing very well. Liverpool are having a really good season up until now, Barcelona are amazing, Paris Saint-Germain, with my friend Luis [Enrique] in charge, are on the march."
"But obviously, Madrid are favourites."
Guardiola added: "The best team won. They deserved it."
"This season we haven’t been so good – I felt that, in the previous seasons, we were better than Madrid, but this time not so."
"In this competition, quality always counts. This season Madrid are capable of long [spells of] possession; they were dynamic, they’re fast when they run and they pressed well."
"What you have to do is accept it and move on. Nothing is eternal. It was hard to bring the 3-2 [first-leg defeat] here but now we have to learn from this and accept that there are another, I don’t know… 30 or 40 games to come [this season]."
"We have to try to win the FA Cup, we have to try to finish in the top four in the league and we have to try to be back again in this competition next season."
"I have very little to reproach my squad for in terms of how they’ve played in the Champions League over the years. When we were eliminated by Madrid in the past, I felt we were very close."
"We reached semi-finals and finals. Tonight, when a team is better sportingly than you, you have to accept it and congratulate them."
Mbappe made a slowish start to his Madrid career, but he has been on fire for a while now.
The 26-year-old has scored 27 goals and given three assists in 37 matches in all competitions for Los Blancos this season.
Madrid head coach Ancelotti was hugely impressed with Mbappe’s heroics against Man City and raved about him in his post-match press conference and noted how he can reach Los Blancos legend Ronaldo’s level.
Ancelotti said: "He [ Mbappe] has the quality to reach Cristiano Ronaldo’s level, but he has to work because Cristiano Ronaldo set the bar very high."
"Because of the quality and the illusion he has, he can reach the level of Cristiano Ronaldo, but it will not be so easy for him. He has to work,"
Eduardo Camavinga has been linked with a move away from Madrid in the summer transfer window.
The left-footed midfielder has had injury issues this season, and it has been reported that when he has turned out for Los Blancos, the Madrid bosses have not been impressed with him.
There is speculation in Spain that Manchester United are keen on a deal for Camavinga, having made contact with the midfielder in November.
Madrid are interested in Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite, but they are facing three potential hurdles in getting a deal done.
Firstly, Branthwaite himself is ready to sign a new contract and extend his stay at the Merseyside club.
Everton themselves do not want to sell the young defender and will demand over £70million for him in the summer of 2025.
Then there is the competition that Madrid will face for Branthwaite, with the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal all keen on him.
Meanwhile, TEAMtalk’s transfer correspondent Ben Jacobs has reported that the Saudi Pro League is gearing up to make a world-record bid for Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior in the summer transfer window.
Although the Br azil international forward wants to stay at Madrid for the long run, the Saudi Pro League will still try to change his mind.