PEP STARS TOO HOTTI FOR LOTTI
CARLO ANCELOTTI tapped his fingers on his lips as the Etihad erupted to Bernardo Silva’s cute header for Manchester City’s second.
There was no raised eyebrow but the look said it all. He knew this City side were too much for his Real Madrid men.
Not even the European Cup master could derail Pep Guardiola’s Treble shooters.
So now the question is... can anyone?
With the blue-and-white ribbons almost on the Premier League trophy, it comes down to two teams.
In the FA Cup, that’s a Manchester United side depleted by injuries and struggling for form while still in a fight for the top four.
Then there’s Inter Milan in the Champions League final.
They’re currently the third best team in Italy and are spearheaded by a striker who left City almost seven years ago in Edin Dzeko.
This felt as if it was one of the final hurdles for City to get over not only in their Treble quest but chase for a first European Cup.
They had fallen to Ancelotti’s side 12 months ago at the same stage.
No manager has won this competition more than Ancelotti’s four so he rarely gets it wrong.
But swapping out Antonio Rudiger for Eder Militao when the former Chelsea man had marked Erling Haaland so well last week was perplexing.
While the fact Aurelien Tchouameni was watching from the bench as the ageing Luka Modric and Toni Kroos struggled with City swarming them was another strange decision.
Meanwhile, Karim Benzema (right) was starved of service and hardly had a sniff at goal.
Ancelotti was outdone in
Europe.
It doesn’t happen often.
The Italian won’t raise his eyebrow if it costs him his job. He knows the score at
Real.