Carlo Ancelotti says Manchester City as Champions League favourites does not bother him

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti says he is not worried about people tagging Manchester City as the favourites for this season’s UEFA Champions League.

City put up one of the best performances in midweek as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie.

The notion that English football is the best in all of Europe has been dismissed by Ancelotti. The Italian emphasised that other leagues are still in competition despite the financial differences between the Cityzens and other leagues.

In his pre-match conference on Friday ahead Madrid’s next league game against Cadiz, Ancelotti was quizzed about the English champions being favourites for the European competition.

“I’m not bothered, because the truth is that English football has teams that compete very well. It doesn’t surprise me that the English are favourites, like Manchester City are now. However, I think even if there is a little difference, other regions showing they can compete. Spanish football took two teams to the semifinals last year, this year Italy has three this year…”

“European football is much more competitive than people say. The English think they have the strongest league and the most spectacular league in the world, but the truth is when they come to Europe, they compete with teams with less money, but they continue to compete, such as Spain and Italy.”

En route to winning the Champions League, Madrid beat Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool to win their 14th.

Madrid are also looking to make the semifinal of the competition after taking a first-leg advantage with a 2-0 win over Chelsea in midweek.