Pep Guardiola warned his Manchester City players not to look too far ahead after their route to a possible final was mapped out on Friday.
The Blues discovered that they will face either Juventus or Lyon in the quarter-final, and then possibly Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the semis, after today’s draw in Nyon.
But they have to finish the job against Real Madrid in the second leg of their last 16 game on August 7 or 8, to reach the tournament for the last eight next month.
It could be an extremely tough route to the final, but Guardiola insisted that he only has his sights fixed on Madrid, with City having a slender 2-1 lead from the first leg in the Bernabeu.
Guardiola was also puzzled by suggestions that he, or City, had influenced Uefa’s decision to play that second leg at the Etihad Stadium, after it was initially touted that all last-16 second legs might also be switched to Portugal.
When asked about the draw, Guardiola said: “We have to play against Madrid. If we think about the next step, the kings of this competition will put us out.”
And he was nonplussed by the suggestion that it was unusual that the second leg be staged in Manchester.
“The first leg we played in Madrid, the second leg we play at home,” he said – there had been mischievous suggestions in Spain that he had personally tried to influence that decision.
“It’s a normal situation. It’s not about advantage. It is what it is. In knockout games it’s one at home and one away.
“Why should we play in another place? The first leg we played in Madrid, the second leg we will play at home.
“It is not about advantage, it is what it is. When it is a knockout game with two legs, there is one at home and one away.”