Football

Real Madrid’s Championship Aspirations Face Stern Manchester City Test

May 17, 2023 2:30 pm

As Real Madrid prepares to face Manchester City in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, they find themselves in familiar territory. The Spanish giants have once again reached the penultimate stage of Europe’s elite competition, marking an astonishing 11th appearance in the semi-finals over the past 13 seasons.

Under the guidance of manager Carlo Ancelotti, who exudes calmness and confidence, Los Blancos stand poised to leverage their rich experience in crunch matches against a formidable City side. While City have not enjoyed success in the elite European club competition, their rivals are the most decorated outfit in it.

With the tie finely poised at 1-1 after the first leg, the stage is set for a battle of nerves and tactical prowess at the Etihad Stadium. Despite their history and unmatched success in the Champions League, Madrid has a cause for concern.

Madrid to Target De Bruyne and Haaland

Los Blancos kept record Premier League goalscorer, Erling Haaland quiet but were unable to stop Kevin de Bruyne quiet. Ancelotti hailed the duo’s quality and admitted City’s squad can pose them problems.

“Today I’m very calm, full of hope and faith,” he said. “Tomorrow, on game day, that’s when the worries come in and you think things through, whether Erling Haaland will score, Kevin de Bruyne will hurt you,” Ancelotti shared. “You try to put it out of my mind, all about managing thoughts, but we are happy to be here and feeling good.”

“It is a usual event to be in a semi-final. We have done it 11 years out of 13 – that’s not easy. Now bravery and courage are vital in games like this, individual quality can’t show if you aren’t brave enough to try stuff,” the four-time Champions League winner added.

Guardiola Plays Down Champions League

After leaving Barcelona, Pep Guardiol has managed Bayern Munich and Manchester City. He has filled his trophy cabinet with more silverware than he can count. However, the Champions League continues to evade him.

Both Bayern and City have struggled to deliver at the grandest stage, floundering opportunities when it mattered the most. In pressure situations, Guardiola’s charges have failed to live up to their billing, famously losing the final against Chelsea in the 2020/21 campaign.

City are on the brink of a fifth Premier League title in six years under his tutelage. In addition, they have accumulated four EFL Cup trophies and have also won the FA Cup once. Their numbers in the oldest cup competition can improve if they triumph over Manchester United in the current edition’s finale.

Guardiola does not believe failure to land the grandest prie will tarnish his legacy at the Etihad Stadium. He admitted the Champions League is an important competition but nothing is for certain as they have reached this stage in previous editions.

“My legacy is already exceptional,” the Catalan manager said. “We have been here many times, we are not stupid to know how important it is, one of the most important, the competition, the rival.

“I’ve told the players to enjoy the moment, we are incredibly lucky to be here, it’s in our hands, depends on us, don’t have to do anything exceptional, win one game to reach the final, we’ll do everything to do that.

“We arrive in really good moment but we have to play better than Madrid game but all they have to do is what we’ve done for many years. We cannot deny we’ve won all the titles, we want it, of course, we have the desire. People say we are close, but they are the most difficult games.

“We know their quality but a semi-final against Real Madrid they are the toughest we could face, but this is the challenge, we embrace it and go for it. Nobody can assure us we will be here again next year, go for it from the first minute till the end, with our people we will be playing with 12 tomorrow.”

 

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