Real s Ancelotti dismisses talk of Man City being underdogs

MADRID - Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti brushed aside Pep Guardiolas claim that Manchester City have a one per cent chance of beating the Spanish side on Feb 19, saying that the defending European champions only hold a small advantage.

Real came back to win 3-2 late on against City at the Etihad last week in the first leg of their Champions League playoff, but Ancelotti urged his side not to get ahead of themselves as they seek to seal a last 16 place in front of their own fans.

Honestly, not even (Guardiola) believes what he said, but Im going to ask him about it before the game anyway, the Italian joked in a press conference on Feb 18.

He doesnt think they have a one percent chance of advancing and neither do we think we are 99 percent favourites. We have a small advantage due to what we did at Manchester and we have to use it in our favour.

Learning to play with the advantage is a psychological issue and it is difficult to deal with it. I could come here and say that we have no advantage and will play as if we were 0-0... but its nonsense and nobody would believe me.

What you can control is the attitude of the team and ensure we play the same game as a week ago because it went well for us. But you cant forget that you have the advantage.

After Real Madrid lodged a letter of complaint against LaLigas referees after what they considered to be a number of unfair decisions, Ancelotti said the Champions League had fewer controversial calls, though he still had issues with VAR.

I do (feel calmer),the statistics speak for themselves. There is less controversy and less intervention by the VAR