Manchester City UEFA Ban Would Motivate Club Ahead Of Madrid Clash – Zidane

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has said that UEFA’s decision to ban Manchester City from the Champions League will add extra motivation to the English Champions for the round-of-16 clash between both clubs on 26 February 2020.

UEFA had on Friday announced that City had been banned from their club competitions for the next two seasons after the club “seriously breached” the body’s licensing and financial fair play regulations (FFP).

Although City confirmed they would appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, if the ban is upheld the club will not feature in the 2020/2021, 2021/2022 seasons of the Champions League.

Consequently, the team that finishes fifth in the Premier League will qualify for next season’s Champions League group phase.

The Madrid boss said that the development will mount pressure on Madrid as the ban would motivate Pep Guardiola’s City in their round of 16 game with Madrid.
“For what has just happened, their motivation will be immense,” Zidane said prior to Madrid’s La Liga game against Celta Vigo.

“I’m not going to go into what happened, what is going to happen…

“It’s a team anyway, who will be a difficult opponent, knowing also how they have been doing in the Premier League. So they will have extra motivation.

“It’s a rival who are going to be very, very difficult, it’s a very big team.” Zidane said.

Will City Continue in the current competition?

UEFAconfirmed that Man City will still be permitted to participate in this current Champions League competition with the first leg of their tie against Real Madrid taking place at the Bernabeu on February 26.

City will host Madrid in the second leg at the Etihad Stadium on March 17.