Champions League: Ancelotti fears City playoff as Real Madrid miss top eight
Champions League: Ancelotti fears City playoff as Real Madrid miss top eight
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Real Madrid and Bayern Munich both won their final league phase matches but finished a point short of a direct place in the last 16 – leaving their managers worried by the possibility of facing Manchester City in the Champions League playoffs. Real Madrid wrapped up their campaign with a 3-0 win over Brest, who drop into the unseeded playoff teams. Rodrygo gave Carlo Ancelotti’s side a 1-0 half-time lead and Jude Bellingham doubled the advantage shortly after Ludovic Ajorque’s goal was disallowed for the hosts.
![[Harry Kane heads in Bayern’s second goal of the night against Slovan Bratislava.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8877d251af58e7bef5099f2e676d445c5f1afbce/0_174_5272_3163/master/5272.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Rodrygo’s second goal, scored on the rebound 12 minutes from time, made the result certain but Real could only climb to 11th place and will face either City or Celtic in the playoffs. Their manager, Carlo Ancelotti, made no secret of which team the defending champions would prefer to land in Friday’s draw.
![[Rémy Cabella celebrates after making it six for Lille at home to Feyenoord.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/af77f6279f1695a2d7ba2570cf4e59fbc3fdbdbc/0_122_4282_2569/master/4282.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“We don’t like to play against City … [they] have more chances to win the Champions League,” Ancelotti said afterwards, adding: “It’s a draw and what comes, comes. To win the Champions League you have to win every game.” The Italian was left to rue a poor start to the league phase, with three losses in their first five games. “We should have woken up earlier in this competition. Now it’s like this,” Ancelotti said.
![[Serhou Guirassy scores for Dortmund]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a98fd1641a56e68f0cd11f88cb9fd5b1e88e5f23/0_139_3398_2038/master/3398.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The Champions League's inaugural 'league phase' is now complete, with the top eight sides – Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Atlético, Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa – going straight to the last 16. The teams who finished between 9th and 24th have been matched in seeded and unseeded pairs, to be allocated into playoff ties in Friday's draw (11am GMT).
