Madrid's late surge not enough to avoid playoff showdown with City

MADRID (AP) — Rodrygo added to his scoring streak with Real Madrid on Wednesday but the Spanish powerhouse didn’t get all the goals it needed to finish high enough in the league phase of the Champions League and avoid a possible encounter with Manchester City in the playoffs.

Rodrygo scored twice in Madrid’s 3-0 win at Brest to reach seven goals in as many matches. Jude Bellingham also scored for the defending European champions, which finished 11th in the 36-team league phase.

Madrid ended with the same 15 points as four other teams but needed a better goal difference to finish higher and avoid a possible encounter with Man City. Friday’s draw will show whether Madrid will face either City or Celtic in the playoffs.

“Whichever team we play against will be difficult, it always is,” Rodrygo said. “We have to keep doing our job. If we play City it will be tough, of course, but they are all tough opponents.”

Rodrygo also scored a pair of goals in Madrid’s previous Champions League game, a 5-1 win against Salzburg.

“He has been playing very well, scoring a lot of goals,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “The team has great potential up front, it has been playing good football.”

Madrid, a record 15-time European winner, got off to a slow start in the competition this season, losing half of its games before closing out with three consecutive victories to avoid the risk of early elimination. The late winning run was not enough to get the team straight into the round of 16, though.

Ancelotti downplayed the potential encounter with City in the next stage.

“We’ll accept whatever we get in the draw,” he said. “To win the Champions League you have to defeat all your opponents.”