Arsene Wenger has tipped Manchester City and AC Milan to reach the Champions League final as two blockbuster semi-finals were set up.
Milan defeated Napoli on Tuesday evening to book their place in the final four, with Real Madrid easily seeing off Chelsea on the other side of the draw. The Serie A side will now face bitter rivals Inter Milan for a spot in the showpiece final in Istanbul.
Madrid meanwhile will take on City in a rematch of last year’s semi-final, which Los Blancos won in thrilling fashion. The Premier League title challengers overcame Bayern Munich in their quarter-final, with a draw at the Allianz Arena enough to see them through.
A duo of mouthwatering semi-finals now await, with an Italian side guaranteed to be in the final for the first time since Juventus lost to Madrid in 2017. And Wenger has now made a cautious prediction for who will make it to Istanbul.
The legendary Arsenal manager was unwilling to make much of a prediction in terms of a winner. But he does believe that Milan and City have an advantage over their opponents heading into the semi-final ties.
“It’s in Istanbul that’s what I can say, that’s what everybody knows. I would say at the moment, I would give Milan a little advantage and City a little advantage because of their defensively stability,” he told beIN Sports.
“Maybe Real Madrid is a bit more vulnerable defensively. But Real Madrid is Real Madrid, they can score against anybody. And that’s why this is very open.”
City suffered heartbreak in the semi-finals last season, with Madrid scoring two goals in injury time in the second leg to send the tie to extra-time. Karim Benzema then stepped up to slot home a penalty to hand Los Blancos an unlikely win.
While that defeat still looms large over Pep Guardiola’s side, City star Bernardo Silva has insisted that his side do not fear the LaLiga giants.
“[We are] very confident and in a very good moment. The best moment of the season for the team. Winning 10, 15, 20 games in a row and now the team is very consistent in the way we’re playing. We have a chance in every competition and we’re going for that,” he said.
“We know how tough it is to get to this spart of the season when if you drop you’re performance for one game in any competition, we will try not to let that happen. The next games [is] another final against Sheffield United [then] Arsenal.
“They are going to be tough, but it’s going to be fun. When you’re a little kid you work to get to these moments and you enjoy it as a football player. We’ll work very hard to bring some titles back home.”
“We know how hard it is to play Real Madrid in this competition, we’re going to go for it, definitely. We always go for it, but we feel the team is very confident at the minute.”