Rio Ferdinand has claimed he thinks Manchester City will be cheering on Real Madrid to beat Chelsea tonight in the Champions League semi-finals.
Pep Guardiola’s side booked their spot in the Champions League final on Tuesday night, as they beat Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 on aggregate over the two legs.
They now face an anxious wait to see who they will face in the European final at the end of May in Istanbul.
Chelsea host Madrid on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge, with the Blues holding the small advantage of an away goal due to the 1-1 draw in Spain last week.
It means that Madrid know they will need to score to progress, and that won’t be an easy feat due to the defensive improvement of the Blues under Thomas Tuchel.
Ferdinand has suggested that Man City would rather avoid an all-English final against Chelsea, so they’ll be supporting Madrid.
“I think Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea would be the tougher opponent. I think they would love to sidestep them,” Ferdinand told BT Sport 2 (10:40pm).
“I think they’ll be sitting at home rooting for Real Madrid to win that game. I’ve played in an all-English final, the pressure is not nice.”
The Chronicle View
As entertaining as Man City’s win over PSG was yesterday, all focus has to be on tonight.
The prospect of even facing Guardiola’s Man City in the Champions League final is not something the Chelsea players should even be thinking about.
If they are to reach the final, they will have to overcome a Madrid side that are serial winners on the European stage and have the know-how in big games.
But Chelsea should take massive confidence in the second leg from the way they performed in the first meeting.
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