Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of Real Madrid, has acknowledged that his team will have a minor advantage over Manchester City in their Champions League quarterfinal matchup because of the fact that Real Madrid has a lighter schedule compared Manchester City.
In the round of eight, Los Blancos will face the team that currently holds the title of European champion. The first leg of the match will take place at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday, April 9, and the second leg will take place at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, September 17, 2019.
On the other hand, City manager Pep Guardiola expressed his dissatisfaction with the scheduling of the matches last week. Guardiola’s team has a heavy Premier League schedule to cope with, whereas Madrid will have nine days of respite in between matches.
“We play Aston Villa at 20:15, then at 12:30 against Crystal Palace on Saturday – at 12:30!” Guardiola grumbled about it. And then on Tuesday, we will go to Madrid. The city of Madrid has nine days to get ready for the match.
These games are scheduled for this next weekend, and they won’t play again until our game. In light of the fact that there is a significant discrepancy, I would like to ponder and request an additional day.
After Madrid’s victory against Athletic Club by a score of 2-0 at home on Sunday evening, Carlo Ancelotti was questioned about his views on Guardiola’s remarks, and he admitted that his team would, in fact, have a “small advantage.”
“I see it well, they have a more complicated schedule, it is modern football,” Ancelotti said to reporters. There is no denying that we have a little edge, but it will not have any impact on the outcome of the match. I thought that today’s match was handled really well, and I would have preferred a bit less intensity.
For the third year in a row, Madrid has been matched with City in the knockout rounds of the Champions League. This is due to the fact that Madrid has faced City in the semi-finals of the Champions League in each of the previous two seasons.
Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, and Barcelona are the teams who will be on the other side of the draw for the semi-finals. The winner of this match will play either Arsenal or Bayern Munich before moving on to the semifinals.