Manchester City winger, Savinho has said their next Champions League opponents, Real Madrid, do not have to be in the play-off of the competition.
He said both Manchester City and Los Blancos should not be playing in the play-off of the competition.
One of the European giants will exit the competition after the two-legged fixtures starting on Tuesday night at the Etihad Stadium.
They are not among the eight teams the new UEFA Champions League’s league format permits to qualify automatically for the round of 16.
However, they fall into the teams that finished from ninth to 24th and will have to win the knockout playoffs to qualify further.
Teams like Real Madrid and Manchester City, have dominated European football in recent years.
While Real Madrid finished 11th position, Manchester City ended on 22nd.
Savinho admitted that his side should not be where they are and the same goes for their opponents.
“I think that we, as Man City, cannot be in the playoffs. We should get to the next round in a more convincing way. It’s also worth mentioning that Real Madrid, with all the weight their shirt holds, shouldn’t be in the playoffs too, with all respect to other teams,” he said as quoted by Madrid Xtra.
DAILY POST reports that Real Madrid are 15-time winners of the Champions League, which is by far the record while Manchester City, won the competition in 2022-23.