Real Madrid believe the demands of the Spanish title race could give them the advantage over Manchester City when the two teams meet in the Champions League in August.
Zinedine Zidane would have prioritised the domestic crown if he had been forced to do so this season but with European football now concluding after national league seasons finish, he feels the club can put everything into both competitions.
And while Manchester City will come into that second-leg game after a strange period of playing out their fixtures with no real pressure, Madrid will have been conditioned by the demands of their duel with Barcelona.