Cristiano Ronaldo’s old comment about Real Madrid and Manchester City’s chances in Champions League resurfaces after playoff draw

Cristiano Ronaldo's earlier prediction about Real Madrid and Manchester City's chances in the UEFA Champions League resurfaced online after the playoffs draw. The draw, held on January 31, pitted the Sky Blues against Los Blancos in the UCL play-offs.

Manchester City and Real Madrid have faced each other 12 times in the UEFA Champions League. This season will be their fourth consecutive time facing each other after the last three editions (2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24) in different stages. Overall, City have won four games, Los Blancos have won thrice and the remaining five games ended on stalemates.

Amid both teams gearing up for the big games over two legs, Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo's prediction about both teams' chances in the UEFA Champions League resurfaced online. In a conversation at the Globe Soccer Awards last month, the Portuguese legend said (via SPORTBible):

"Every player, every team they have a rash moment but they will come back all the time. And Madrid, if you have to bet to win the Champions League again I would bet Real Madrid because you never know what’s going to happen."

"At the Bernabeu it’s different, all the teams are scared when they play there, this is a fact, history says that, and never consider Madrid dead because they always come back, City as well."

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the UEFA Champions League five times in his career, four of which were with Los Blancos. The legendary forward is often hailed as among the best players in the history of the tournament. Ronaldo is the highest goalscorer in the history of the UCL with 140 goals and the top assist provider with 42.

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"I don’t understand" - Cristiano Ronaldo debunks claim about Real Madrid having a bad 2024-25 campaign

Ronaldo - Source: Getty

In his aforementioned interview at the Globe Soccer Awards, Cristiano Ronaldo disagreed with the notion of Real Madrid having a bad 2024-25 season. He said (via SPORTBible):

"Well, in football you never know what’s going to happen. (...) It’s like Madrid, people don’t expect that they’ve been so brilliant in the beginning but they are not too bad, they are there, two points in front of Barcelona and they say it’s a bad season, I don’t understand why they say these kind of things."

Cristiano Ronaldo was referring to Real Madrid's position two points ahead of Barcelona in the LaLiga table at that time. Los Blancos are currently in a better position as they sit atop the table with 49 points off 21 games. Their archrivals Barcelona are seven points behind in third place.

However, Los Merengues did not start the campaign on equally good terms if compared to their usual form. They also suffered heavy losses in two El Clasicos this season - 4-0 in LaLiga and 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final. Moreover, they did not qualify directly to the UCL Round of 16 - a competition they've won a record 15 times and are current title holders.

Yet, the season is far from over and Los Blancos have a good chance of having a successful campaign.