Despite recording a three-goal win over Stade Brestois on Wednesday, Real Madrid will have to navigate a tricky two-legged play-off in February if they are to secure a place in the round-of-16 of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League.
Speaking after his side’s victory in France, Carlo Ancelotti praised his side for a formidable win but admitted that their play-offs path could be “complicated for both teams.”
“It was a good game,” the 65-year-old Italian said after the final whistle, adding that “today, we played well and were solid so we’re happy. It’s a shame we didn’t wake up earlier in the competition, but we’re happy to be here at this moment.”
The Real Madrid boss commented: “Defensively and offensively, we were good. We’re in a good moment and we feel good about things, so we want to keep that going. There’s no doubt about it, we played well today.”
But while Stade Brestois have been one of the surprise packages of this revamped Champions League format, Real Madrid’s potential opponents in the play-offs pose an entirely different threat.
Los Blancos are set to face either Manchester City or Celtic over two legs in February, and while Ancelotti stressed that “we’ll have to wait for the draw,” he admitted that “if we get City, it’ll be complicated for us both.”
“City have a better chance of winning the Champions League than Celtic […] so we wouldn’t like to play against them, but if we do draw them, then we’ll play like we have in other years.”
Asked for his thoughts on the new league phase format that debuted this season in the Champions League, Ancelotti made his stance clear.
“I don’t like this format because there are too many matches, and my idea for football is to have less matches for players rather than giving them more.”