Zinedine Zidane Says European Ban Will Motivate Man City vs. Real Madrid
Zinedine Zidane has said Manchester City's motivation will be "immense" when they meet Real Madrid in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League because of the two-year ban UEFA imposed on them.
The Premier League champions will be omitted from European competition for the next two seasons, and the Los Blancos coach believes Pep Guardiola's men will be desperate to perform when they play the first leg on Feb. 26.
Marcus Banks of the Manchester Evening News reported Zidane refused to comment on UEFA's judgment but admitted the nature of the ban could influence City's display in the forthcoming tie:
"For what has just happened, their motivation will be immense.
"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."
City have stated they will appeal the ban handed to them for committing "serious breaches" of UEFA's financial fair play in allegedly overstating their sponsorship revenue in accounts submitted between 2012 and 2016.
The governing body also fined the Sky Blues €30 million (£25 million).
City will remain in the current competition, and this campaign temporarily represents their last chance of European success for a significant period of time.
Guardiola's side have experienced a troublesome defence of their Premier League crown, which they have won for the last two seasons. Liverpool lead the way by 25 points after beating Norwich City 1-0 on Saturday at Carrow Road.
Real enter the match in excellent shape, surging to the top of La Liga as they battle champions Barcelona.
Los Blancos have lost just once in 23 games in all competitions after their recent 4-3 Copa del Rey elimination against Real Sociedad.
Madrid lost their opening Champions League group game 3-0 at Paris Saint-Germain, but Zidane's outfit are at the peak of their powers after working their way back to top form.
