Manchester City boss: LM winner? Real Madrid got lucky. They deserved to lose to PSG, Chelsea, us and Liverpool

Real Madrid to win the Champions League in 2021/22? Mere luck, according to Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano. The Spanish giant should have lost in all the knockout games, he said.

While Manchester City are still waiting for their first Champions League triumph, Real Madrid celebrated their 14th triumph in the most prestigious club competition at the end of May and their fifth in the last eight years.

This year, however, it has had to overcome several obstacles. One of the biggest favourites in the competition, PSG, awaited him in the eighth round with the Messi – Mbappé – Neymar trio. However, Los Blancos found their way into the quarter-finals despite being two goals down thanks to a Benzema hat-trick.

There, Chelsea, the defending champions and a troublesome side that knocked out Real the season before, awaited them. Although the Spanish side had a great first leg in London (3: 1), they were down 0: 3 at home with ten minutes to go and on the verge of elimination. But once again, in an overwhelming finish, they won promotion.

And the biggest highlight came in the semi-final, where perhaps the strongest team in the world at the moment awaited. Manchester City were already 5-3 up on aggregate and the timekeeper was showing the 90th minute in the rematch. But the Merengues came back from the dead and Rodrygo’s two goals in two minutes sent the game into extra time, where Benzema decided the game.

In the final against another immensely strong side, Liverpool, Real were objectively the worse team and survived several chances from their opponents. But they waited for one chance and expertly brought the match to a victorious end.

Mere luck

While some are calling this Champions League journey the best and toughest in history, the Manchester City CEO does not share the same opinion. In fact, Ferran Soriano called Los Blancos’ triumph a fluke on the Dr. Football podcast.

“The Champions League is a competition we want to win, but we are not obsessed with it. We know it’s a lot about luck,” said Soriano.

“People today talk about Real Madrid’s success in recent years, but I think it would be fair to say they were lucky. Maybe I could even say they deserved to lose against PSG, against Chelsea, against us and against Liverpool,” the Spanish businessman added.

While Real Madrid, according to Soriano, are winning the Champions League through luck, Manchester City are still lacking that. Not the money the sheikhs regularly pump into the squad. Will it finally come next season?

Source: Dr. Football Podcast, Goal