‘We’re not obsessed by CL’
CITY are not obsessed with winning the Champions League, according to Ferran Soriano.
The Blues reached the final in 2021 and were moments away from doing the same last season until a late collapse at Real Madrid in the semi-final.
They have had similar heartbreaking exits in recent years to Tottenham, Lyon and Liverpool and the external pressure to win a first Champions League increases with every season.
However, that pressure is not coming from within the club’s hierarchy as chief executive officer Soriano explained how City have simply been unlucky in the competition.
Speaking on the Dr Football Podcast, Soriano said: “We don’t make this (the Champions League) the core of our objectives because luck plays a role in the Champions League.
“There are a handful of games that you can have a bad game in, in the semi-finals and you’re out.
“Whoever wins the league is the best team in the league.
We say internally ‘the league is our bread and butter. This is what we do for a living, the league’.
“The Champions League is an additional trophy that we want but we know that it might be subject to a bit of luck, so we’re not obsessed.
“People say now about the success Real Madrid have had in the last years and I think it’s fair to say that there’s been a bit of luck,” he added. “Maybe I could say they deserved to lose against PSG, against Chelsea, against us, against Liverpool.
“But, people do not remember that in the ‘90s, ‘80s, Real Madrid had a fantastic team, one of the best in history with Butragueno and they couldn’t win. They were knocked out. “We’re patient, this is not an obsession, we will win it at the right time.”