Manuel Akanji confident Manchester City can beat Real Madrid or Bayern Munich

By Andy Hampson, PA

Manuel Akanji insists Manchester City have nothing to fear from Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.

City will face one of those two European heavyweights in the Champions League next month after scraping through to the play-off round on Wednesday.

The 2023 winners had been in danger of elimination after falling behind in their must-win final league phase match against Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium but rallied to win 3-1.

Savinho seals our spot in the play-offs! 🇧🇷💥 pic.twitter.com/mjSA4rIWIW

— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 30, 2025

Defeat would have seen City miss out on the knockout stages for the first time since 2012-13 but, after just making the cut in 22nd place, Akanji feels they can now look forward with confidence.

The Switzerland defender said: “We’re definitely ready. Obviously they’re not the teams you want to face but whoever it is we’re looking forward to the challenge and I think we can beat every team in Europe.

“Even though we didn’t play as good as we used to, I think no team wants to face us. I don’t know what’s going on in their heads but whoever comes we’re ready for the challenge.”

City went into the game knowing only victory would be enough to prolong their latest European campaign.

Having started the competition as one of the favourites, City had found themselves in this predicament after a calamitous sequence of results and performances including defeats to Sporting Lisbon, Juventus and Paris St Germain and a draw with Feyenoord.

The downturn looked set to continue as they conceded to Raphael Onyedika but City hit back after the break through Mateo Kovacic, a Joel Ordonez own goal and game-changing substitute Savinho.

Akanji said: “We’re happy that we made it to the play-offs. Obviously we wish we could have made it to the top eight but we couldn’t change that anymore.

“All we had to do was win. It wasn’t easy but we did it. It wasn’t the way that we wanted it to be but here we are right now and I’m still confident we can beat whoever comes next.”

It has been an underwhelming season so far for City, who have also fallen well off the pace in their pursuit of a fifth successive Premier League title.

They now move into a tough February with games against Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool and Tottenham, as well as their double-header against Real or Bayern. They will learn their European opponents on Friday.

“Good results always make the mood better than when you lose,” said Akanji.

“I hope we can keep it going. It’s what we have to do now – go match by match, game by game. We have Arsenal next. It’s an important game, away, it won’t be easy. We have to recover well and be ready for the challenge.”