Ancelotti: 'Man City deserve to be in the final'

"Man City deserve to be in the final, just like we were last year," Ancelotti said after the 0-4 defeat at the Etihad Stadium on the evening of May 17. "No need to talk about the attitude, we lost to the better team."

Ancelotti also admitted Man City played with more intensity and quality in the first half. In this half, Bernardo Silva scored twice for Man City. "That's the point, like we were last year," he added. "This could happen to you in a semi-final."

Suffering the biggest defeat in his career in the Champions League, but Ancelotti is not too sad. He still thinks Real have had a good season, and insists reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League is a success because "many teams have not reached this round".

Regarding his own future, Ancelotti repeated the statement of President Florentino Perez half a month ago. He wants to stay with Real and pursue the Champions League. "This season we have done very well," said Ancelotti. "We will do better next season. With this squad you can fight for the Champions League."

Yesterday, Real proved inferior, contrary to the first leg draw 1-1 at the Bernabeu last week. Ancelotti's side controlled the ball only 39% of the time and finished five times, a third of City's 14. In the 23rd minute, Bernardo Silva shot into the corner to open the score for the home team. Real tried to equalize, but soon got swept back to Man City's play. 37 minutes, after Ilkay Gundogan's shot, Silva headed home to make it 2-0.

Man City continued to play more efficiently after the break. In the 76th minute, Akanji's header touched Eder Militao and changed direction to raise the score to 3-0. The home team closed the epic victory with a face-to-face finish from Julian Alvarez in the 90+1 minute.

This victory helped Man City continue with the final result 5-1. Man City will play the final with Inter on June 10, in Istanbul, Türkiye.

This victory can also be seen as revenge for Guardiola's teachers and students. Last season, the English team won Real 4-3 in the semi-final first leg, but lost 1-3 in the second leg. Meanwhile, Real finished the 2022-2023 season with only the King's Cup. Ancelotti's teachers and students still have tickets to the Champions League next season, due to being in the Top 4 of La Liga.