Graham Potter insists that only winning matters after Chelsea were drawn against Real Madrid

Graham Potter insists that all that matters is winning and not the way you are after going head-to-head in the Champions League with suave boss Carlo Ancelotti.

Hours after expressing their desire to conquer Europe with a statement that included profanity, Chelsea and Potter were paired up to face champions Real Madrid in the quarter-finals next month, the two teams meeting in the competition for the third consecutive season.

Chelsea could face Manchester City in an all-English semi-final, and what would be a repeat of the 2021 final in Porto won by the Londoners, if Pep Guardiola’s current team can overcome former Bayern Munich in the final. eight.

At a hospitality event for Chelsea members on Thursday night, Potter said on stage in a clip that went viral: “We’ll try to beat Everton.” [in the Premier League today]take the draw and then we’ll try to win the damn Champions League.’

After the draw in Nyon yesterday, Potter said with a smile: ‘I said we’d try to *whistle* to win the Champions League! That is the same for every seven clubs.

The Blues faced the current champion of the competition, Real Madrid, on Friday.

They will also say that they could lose in the quarterfinals because that is the nature of the Champions League. We will focus on Real Madrid when we get there. At the moment, it is Everton.

The feeling is illusion but, as I said, I prefer to talk about Everton because that is the [next] The other things are far away.

Having occasionally questioned his low-key approach and been compared to the more outspoken, lively and occasionally provocative Chelsea managers of the past, Potter’s onstage rallying cry was well received by supporters.

But when asked about Ancelotti, a six-time European Cup/Champions League winner as a player and manager, and his calm, controlled demeanor, Potter said: “I can’t be bothered talking about how people think you should be. “. .’

Carlo Ancelotti should be him, Pep Guardiola should be him, Jurgen should be him and I should be me. I don’t care what you think my response to that is.

‘The simple thing is that if you win you can be who you want to be and if you lose someone wants someone different and that is the reality.

‘You just have to be yourself, be authentic. Otherwise, if you try to act, the situation finds you out. He’s been himself throughout his career and he’s done extremely well.

I don’t know him personally. I played against him when he was Everton manager. He is a gentleman.

‘There is nothing I can say about how much he has achieved in his career. He is amazing. The amount of time between his first and last Champions League win, 20 years, is unbelievable.”

Potter was full of praise for Madrid manager and former Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti.

Chelsea beat Madrid in the semi-finals en route to their triumph in 2021, but the Spaniards retaliated with a dramatic 5-4 quarter-final win on aggregate last season.

City and Bayern last met in the competition in the group stage of the 2014/15 season. Bayern manager Julian Nagelsmann said: “If you end up winning the title, no one can accuse you of having the luck of the draw.”

‘It was PSG [in the last-16], then it would be Manchester City, then maybe Real Madrid or Chelsea and then, in the final, a Portuguese or Italian team. It would be a triumph that would have high value, great mentality and quality.’

AC Milan faced Napoli in an all-Italian quarterfinal and Inter Milan and Benfica clashed in the other eight ties with the winners of each meeting in the other semifinal in May.