Zidane fears Man City motivation

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane on Saturday said that he is expecting Manchester City's motivation to be "immense" when the two sides meet in the Champions League following the announcement of the English side's two-season ban from European competitions.

UEFA on Friday said that City would be suspended from the next two editions of the Champions League for "serious" financial fair-play breaches, although the Premier League champions have said they will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Real host Pep Guardiola's City in their last-16 first leg on February 26, with the return game at the Etihad on March 17.

"For what has just happened, their motivation will be immense," said Zidane ahead of La Liga leaders Real's match against Celta Vigo on Sunday.

"I'm not going to go into what happened, what is going to happen...

"It's a team anyway, who will be a difficult opponent, knowing also how they have been doing in the Premier League. So they will have extra motivation."