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Manchester City legend Yaya Toure’s former agent Dimitri Seluk has backed City to beat Real Madrid in their upcoming Champions League semi-final showdown. Seluk believes City will also beat either Inter Milan or AC Milan in the final to win their first-ever Champions League trophy this season.
Reigning champions Manchester City have dominated English football like no other, winning the Premier League title four times in the past four years. They, however, have fallen short in the Champions League, losing the 2020-21 final to Chelsea and the 2021-22 semi-final to Real Madrid.
They will travel to Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash on Tuesday night (May 9). Ahead of the first leg, Toure’s former agent Seluk has made a bold prediction, claiming that the shamans had lifted the spell that caused City Champions League agony. He said (via City Report):
“I can say that the spell has now been lifted by the shamans - and that I think Man City will win the Champions League under Pep."
In 2018, Seluk claimed that an “African curse” would prevent Guardiola from ever winning the Champions League (via Bleacher Report). He had declared that many African shamans were furious at Guardiola for gradually sidelining Toure after coming on as manager in 2016.
The Ivorian legend accused Guardiola of “having problems with African players wherever he goes” before leaving the Etihad Stadium in September 2018 (via talkSPORT).
Manchester City star Phil Foden believes his team have “strong chance” of knocking out Real Madrid
Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden has urged his team to play with confidence in the semi-final clashes against defending European champions Real Madrid. The Englishman believes they have a solid chance of progressing if they can play their natural game.
The winger said (via Manchester Evening News):
“I think [our chances are] strong, we've got to be positive. We've got to believe in ourselves. We've obviously reached the final before, so we've proven that we can get to them stages and hopefully we can just keep going in the right direction.”
Manchester City picked up a 4-3 victory in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash at the Etihad Stadium last season. Los Blancos overturned the deficit in the second leg, bagging a 3-1 victory (6-5 on aggregate).
