Ahead of the race to reach the Champions League quarterfinals, Carlo Ancelotti spoke about a couple of topics to Il Corriere dello Spot. First order of business, the favourites to win the entire competition:
“I’d say Juventus is among the favourites as well. There are about seven clubs that can win the Champions League: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint Germain, and Manchester City. There is more balance in terms of the level of these big clubs. It’s not that teams like PSG got worst, but teams like Juventus got better. At Bayern we all feel good despite not playing our best the past couple of matches. The good news is that Boateng is recovering and will be ready by the end of February. We just have an issue with Ribery, everyone else is fine.”
In the meantime, Lahm has announced his retirement at 33 years of age: “It’s definitely a shame, but it is his choice. I spoke to him a long time, and I told him that considering his quality and condition, he could easily keep going. But his response was that of a true professional. He wants to do this job at 100% of his capabilities, not 90%. Totti? Of course I spoke about him and his choice, but there’s nothing I could have said. I even told him about me, and how I quit at 33 years old. But in my case, it seemed like I had 43 years of age…”
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