Ancelotti Responds: Our Chances of Beating City Are Not 99%

Carlo Ancelotti, the Italian coach of Real Madrid, responded today (Tuesday) to Spanish manager Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, considering that he is intentionally downplaying the chances of the English team in advancing to the Champions League Round of 16 against the Spanish defending champions.

The two teams will meet on Wednesday in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu after Real Madrid’s 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium in the first leg.

After City’s commanding 4-0 victory over Newcastle on Saturday in the league, Guardiola, the manager of the four-time English champions, said his team had a “1% chance” of qualifying against the 15-time champions.

Ancelotti responded at a press conference, saying: “He doesn’t really believe that. Tomorrow I will ask him before the match: Do you really think you have only a 1% chance?”

He added, “He knows very well that they have a better chance than that… We don’t think we have a 99% chance.”

The experienced coach continued, “We believe we have a slight advantage that we should take advantage of, and we will try to play the game in the same way we did in the first leg, which went well.”