'Semi-final is not success' - Carlo Ancelotti says Real Madrid have achieved nothing

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is already looking beyond the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League as he looks to guide the club to unprecedented success. 

Ancelotti and Real Madrid are visitors at the Etihad later today to take on English champions, Manchester City in the Champions League semi-final first leg. 

It’s another appearance in the last four for the Italian with Los Blancos but he says that cannot be seen as a success for the club. 

“The pressure (to reach the final) is similar for both teams,” Ancelotti to uefa.com in his pre-match press conference. 

“For us, it’s not a success to reach the semi-finals. It’s to reach the final but for that (to happen) we have to beat Manchester City.”

On the game against the Cityzens, the 62-year-old added that his team must be ready to defend as a team and not ball-watch against the Pep Guardiola side, who are expected to dominate on the ball. 

"The team must be compact in the defensive phase,” he added. “Tomorrow (today), the defence will play a big role. When City have the ball we have to defend, you can't just watch the ball. But when you win it, you have to use your quality to attack."

The game at the Etihad is poised to be a pulsating affair given the form of the two clubs set to clash. 

City bounced back to winning ways after the exciting draw with fellow Premier League contenders, Liverpool, the last time, with a comprehensive thrashing of Dennis Emmanuel’s Watford at the weekend. 

Brazilian star, Gabriel Jesus was the star of the show after he was involved in all of City’s five goals, scoring four of them and setting up Rodri for the other. 

The visitors, Real Madrid, are now on the brink of winning the La Liga title after a 3-1 win over Osasuna on Wednesday. Star forward, Karim Benzema had an off day, missing two second-half penalties. 

However, his blushes were saved by goals from David Alaba, Marco Asencio, and Lucas Vazquez.