Ancelotti: “City have changed a bit for Haaland”.
Carlo Ancelotti thanked Pep Guardiola’s words of respect towards Real Madrid and analyzed the opponent in the Champions League semifinals, a Manchester City that he acknowledged “has changed a little” since the arrival of “a striker like Haaland who scores a lot of goals”.
Without thinking about favoritism or tinkering with the style that has taken Real Madrid to its eleventh Champions League semi-final in the last thirteen years, Ancelotti spoke of the duel repeated in the knockout stages for the second consecutive year against a City team that has changed its style.
“They are a team that has changed a bit, but they are still very strong with more individuality. They have an attacking striker like Haaland, who scores a lot of goals. We don’t have to change our approach, it’s the same, you have to be better than your opponent and that’s it,” he said.
“It’s not an issue in my head whether we are favorites or not, we know that we are very close to a final, that they are a very strong opponent, a very evenly matched tie and let’s see what happens,” he added.
Guardiola praised Real Madrid’s performance in the Champions League and assured that to win the competition you have to be superior to Ancelotti’s team, who has thanked him for his words. “Real Madrid is a very respected team and, when you are, it’s a good thing for a coach to say that. If it’s like Guardiola, even more good.”
“Real Madrid and City are teams that can play in different ways because of the quality of squad they have. I don’t think they have completely changed their style, with such a strong striker (Erling Haalanda) the way they attack changes a little bit from the past, but they can make you a possession game without a problem as well as a transition game because they have all those qualities,” he said.