The chief executive of Manchester City Ferran Soriano has stressed that the team is “not obsessed” with winning the Champions League but believes Real Madrid was “a little bit lucky” in the previous campaign.
Recall that Real Madrid defeated Liverpool in the final to win their 14th European trophy in May. They needed to come from behind in all the three knockout rounds to win.
On their road to the Champions League final, they beat Paris Saint Germain in the round of 16, Chelsea in the quarterfinals, and Manchester City in the semi-finals before they beat Liverpool in the final.
Speaking about Real Madrid’s success in the UEFA Champions League as well as his own club’s ambitions, Soriano told the Dr. Football podcast though Manchester City want the Champions League, they are not desperate for it.
“The Champions League is a trophy that we want, but we know that it is subject to a bit of luck and we are not obsessed”, the chief executive of Manchester City said.
“People talk today about the success that Madrid has had in recent years, and I think it would be fair to say that they were a bit lucky.
“Perhaps I could say that they deserved to lose against PSG, against Chelsea, against us, or against Liverpool.”
However, Soriano didn’t fully dismiss Real Madrid’s effort, as he went further to reveal that the Spanish champions were on the wrong end of luck more than 30 years ago during the ‘Quinta’ generation of the 1980s.
“People don’t remember that in the 80s and 90s [Real Madrid] had a fantastic team, one of the best in history, with Butragueno and La Quinta, and they could not win it,” Soriano explained. “Milan eliminated Real Madrid every year. So they were somewhat lucky now, but they were also very unlucky for years.”
As for City, Soriano continues: “We are patient, it is not an obsession, we will win it at the right time.”
Manchester City have been one of the busiest clubs so far in the current summer transfer window. The English Premier League champions have already signed two new players and reached an agreement with one.
The club announced the signing of Alvarez from River Plate and Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund at the early stage of the transfer window.
🎙| Man City CEO Ferran Soriano: “People now talk about Real Madrid’s success in #UCL these last years and I think it’s fair to say that there’s been a bit of luck. Maybe I could say that they deserved to lose against PSG, Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool.” @City_Xtra #rmalive
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) June 26, 2022
Sources have revealed that the Pep Guardiola team has reached an agreement with Leeds United to sign their midfielder Kalvin Philips and the deal will be completed soon.
Brighton defender Marc Cucurella is another player that will likely move to the club before the end of this summer transfer window.
Pep Guardiola and his boys are getting ready to defend the Premier League title this season. They have won the title four times in the last five years.
