Manchester City are not obsessed with winning the Champions League, according to CEO Ferran Soriano.
City reached the Champions League final in 2021 and were moments away from doing the same this season until a late collapse at Real Madrid in the semi-final. They have had similar heart-breaking exits in recent years to Tottenham, Lyon and Liverpool and the external pressure to win a first Champions League increases with every season.
However, that pressure is not coming from within the club's hierarchy as Soriano explained how City have simply been unlucky in the competition.
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Speaking on the Dr Football Podcast (via SportBible ), Soriano said: “We don’t make this [the Champions League] the core of our objectives because of what I said; luck plays a role in the Champions League because there are a handful of games that you can have a bad game in, in the semi-finals and you’re out.
“Whoever wins the league is the best team in the league. We say internally, ‘The league is our bread and butter. This is what we do for a living; the league'.
“The Champions League is an additional trophy that we want but we know that it might be subject to a bit of luck so we’re not obsessed.”
To emphasise his case, Soriano pointed to Champions League experts Real Madrid — City's conquerors this season — and their mixed fortunes in the competition over the years.
“People say now about the success that Real Madrid have had in the last years and I think it’s fair to say that there’s been a bit of luck," he said.
"Maybe I could say that they deserved to lose against PSG, against Chelsea, against us, against Liverpool. But, people do not remember that in the 90s, 80s, Real Madrid had a fantastic team, one of the best in history with Butragueno and they couldn’t win. They were knocked out of the Champions (League).
"We’re patient, this is not an obsession, we will win it at the right time.”
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