Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has warned his players not to underestimate Manchester City ahead of their Champions League clash on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
The defending champions won the first leg 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium thanks to a last-minute winner from Jude Bellingham.
Man City’s Pep Guardiola revealed on Tuesday that they have only one per cent chance of progressing to the next round at the expense of Real Madrid.
Ancelotti disagreed with Guardiola, urging his players not to underrate Manchester City in the encounter.
He said: “He does not truly think that, tomorrow I’ll ask him before the game – do you really think you’ve got a one per cent chance?.
“He really thinks they’ve got more chances than that… we don’t think we have 99 per cent chance.
“We think we have a small advantage that we have to take advantage of, and try to play the same game we set up in the first leg, which went well.
“Learning to play with the advantage is a psychological issue, and it is difficult to deal with it. I could come here and say that we have no advantage and will play as if we were 0-0… but it’s nonsense and nobody would believe me.
“What you can control is the attitude of the team and ensure we play the same game as a week ago because it went well for us. But you can’t forget that you have the advantage.”
Real Madrid have been enmeshed in a controversial clash with match officials in Spain after Jude Bellingham was sent off against Osasuna on Saturday.
Ancelotti admitted that he is comfortable with officiating in the Champions League.
He said: “I do (feel calmer), the statistics speak for themselves. There is less controversy and less intervention by the VAR (in the Champions League), which only intervenes when necessary.
“In the Champions League, only the best referees from each country are assigned, and the quality is very high in this respect.
“I have doubts (about VAR) because I think VAR has taken too much responsibility away from the referee. It’s a bit of a dangerous system.
“The VAR has been introduced to avoid blatant and obvious mistakes, not for interventions that are football-related. Often the aim is to remove all the naturalness of football for the sake of an image.”
Ancelotti also confirmed that Antonio Rudiger is fit to start against Manchester City on Wednesday.
Man City warmed up for the clash with a dominant 4-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday, while Real Madrid played out a disappointing 1-1 draw against Osasuna