Real Madrid created history when they defeated Liverpool in last season’s Champions League final.
However Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano believes that Los Blancos were massively lucky to secure their 14th Champion League title with a win at the Stade de France. He feels that Real Madrid could have lost to Paris Saint Germain, Chelsea, Manchester City or even in the finals against Liverpool but they rode their luck and clinched the title.
Soriano strongly believes that the Spanish giants were largely second best in all of their knockout games in last season’s Champions League but they were lucky to surpass all of them to win their record 14th title last season.
“People are now talking about Real Madrid’s success in the Champions League and I think it’s fair to say that there was a bit of luck involved. You could say they deserved to lose against PSG, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool,” Soriano said regarding Real Madrid’s journey to their record breaking 14th Champions League title.
There were clear cut questions on Manchester City’s inability to win the Champions League as they have dominated several competitions including the Premier League but Pep Guardiola’s men are yet to bring the Champions League under their control. So when asked about City’s struggle in winning the Champions League despite the recent investments, Soriano gave an example of the Real Madrid team back in the 80s which had superstar players but they struggled in Europe.
“People don’t remember that Madrid had a fantastic team back in the 80s and they couldn’t win the Champions League. The Champions League is not at the core of our goals because luck plays a part, there are a few games where you can be knocked out if it doesn’t go your way, like in our semifinals. Whoever wins the league is the best club, and that’s our bread and butter and what we do for a living,” Soriano added.
Real Madrid scripted history as they defeated the likes of Paris Saint Germain, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool to clinch their 14th title in the competition.
Manchester City under Pep Guardiola will be regarded as one of the best teams in the Premier League history, 10 years from now on. Guardiola is undoubtedly one of the best managers around having won 32 major trophies there is no denying that fact.
But the major criticism in both cases is that City and Guardiola’s struggle to bing home European glory. The Spanish tactician won the Champions League back when he was at FC Barcelona. He struggled to do so with Bayern Munich and has now struggled to break that jinx with Manchester City.
While his inability to win the Champions League is interlinked with the amount of money City spends on transfer and signing of new talents. Therefore both the club and the manager get so much hate as they have struggled to deliver in Europe’s biggest club competition even with a strong lineup.