Ancelotti: LaLiga, Serie A can challenge big-spending Premier League clubs in Champions League

Head coach Frank Lampard of Chelsea FC and head coach Carlo Ancelotti of Real Madrid look on after the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal first leg match between Real Madrid and Chelsea FC at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on April 12, 2023 in Madrid, Spain.

Carlo
Ancelotti has said he’s not annoyed by talk of Manchester City as
Champions League favourites — but insisted that Spanish and Italian teams can
still compete with big-spending Premier League clubs.

City
beat Bayern Munich 3-0 in their Champions League quarterfinal first
leg on Tuesday, with Ancelotti’s Madrid beating Chelsea 2-0 a
day later to set up a potential semifinal showdown with City.

Madrid have
won five Champions Leagues in the last nine seasons — including last year’s
final against Liverpool in Paris — while City are yet to win
European football’s biggest prize.

“It
doesn’t bother me,” Ancelotti said in a news conference on Friday, when
asked about City’s status as favourites to win the competition this season.
“English football has teams that compete very well. They’re very strong.
So it doesn’t surprise me that they’re favourites.

“But in
Europe we’re seeing the opposite. Last year Spanish football had two teams [Real
Madrid and Villarreal] in the [Champions League] semifinals, this
year Italy has three teams [Napoli, AC Milan and Inter] in the
quarterfinals.”

Ancelotti’s
Madrid have an outstanding record against Premier League opposition — beating
Chelsea, City and Liverpool last year, and eliminating Liverpool in this
season’s round-of-16.

“European
football is more competitive than people think, above all the English, who
think they have the strongest league, the most spectacular,” Ancelotti
said. “But when they play in Europe they compete against other leagues and
teams with less money to invest, but who keep competing, like the
Spanish.”

Ancelotti
said he wouldn’t swap Madrid’s in-form winger Vinicius Junior for
City’s Erling Haaland, calling both “fantastic players.”

The Italian
coach also said that despite speculation about his future — being linked to
the vacant Brazil national team job — he expected to remain in
charge at the Bernabeu next season, with a contract that runs until 2024.

“I
think [president Florentino Perez] wants me to carry on,” Ancelotti said.
“He’s always been very affectionate [with me] and he still is… The club
is calm and I’m sure we’ll be here next season, because we’re going to respect
my contract.”

Madrid will travel
to Cadiz on Saturday 13 points behind leaders Barcelona in the LaLiga table,
with Ancelotti confirming that Vinicius and midfielder Toni Kroos will
both miss out with minor muscular injuries.