Real Madrid wish to avoid Man City, Ancelotti acknowledges

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti hopes the Champions League holders will avoid being drawn to play Manchester City in the knockout-round play-offs.

Los Blancos will face either City or Celtic for a place in the last 16, having finished 11th in the 36-team table following Wednesday's 3-0 away win at Brest.

Rodrygo netted twice either side of Jude Bellingham getting on the scoresheet, but results elsewhere did not go in Madrid's favour as they missed out on a top-eight finish.

Having lost three of their first five Champions League games this season, Madrid have now won their last three in a row. 

The 15-time European champions have now reached the knockout rounds on all 29 of their appearances in the competition.

Ancelotti has led Madrid to three Champions League triumphs, with two of those coming in his second spell at the Santiago Bernabeu.

On both occasions – in 2021-22 and 2023-24 – they eliminated City en route to lifting the trophy, but the Italian would rather avoid another meeting with Pep Guardiola's team.

"We don't like to play against City, but if we have to, we'll do it like on other occasions," Ancelotti told reporters after Madrid's win in France.

"City have more chances to win the Champions League [than Celtic]."

He also told Movistar in a post-game interview: "It's a draw and what comes, comes. To win the Champions League you have to win every game."

The draw will be held on Friday in Nyon.

"If we want to win this competition we have to beat the best teams," Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said when asked about the prospect of facing the 2023 victors.

Ancelotti added that a slow start to the league phase had cost Madrid the opportunity to skip the play-offs, saying: "We should have woken up earlier in this competition. Now it's like this.

Rodrygo echoed those sentiments as he said: "Top eight was our objective but we didn't do well in some games. Now we have to keep improving."