Real Madrid seeks to finish off a champion with a sharp knife

Real Madrid seeks to finish off a champion with a sharp knife


Benzema controls against Azpilicueta. / Javier Soriano (Afp)

Rooms | Lap

The whites are suspicious of Chelsea despite having the tie well on track and appeal to another magical night to fasten the pass to the Champions League semi-finals

Oscar Bellot

Real Madrid want to show against Chelsea that they have learned from the past. The whites returned from Stamford Bridge with a
tremendous booty, but they are well aware of the high toll that overconfidence can bring. Four seasons ago they left Turin with an even shinier treasure, a three-goal lead against Juventus on the night Cristiano Ronaldo spotted a budding romance and began to consider breaking up an extraordinarily profitable marriage. But Juventus wasted character in the second leg and shook the Santiago Bernabéu. The bug came to the rescue when the extension seemed inevitable, but the scare was left in the memory. With Ajax, the following campaign, they were not so lucky.

Carlo Ancelotti also knows about this. The Italian escaped a Champions League with Milan that he caressed with a 3-0 at halftime. It happened eighteen years ago in Istanbul and Rafa Benítez's Liverpool ended up dyeing the 'orejona' red in the penalty shootout. For this reason, and despite the fact that the 1-3 won in London has him with one foot in the semifinals, the Chamartín team is aware that they will have to offer another great performance to finish off an injured champion who arrives in the Spanish capital with spirits refurbished and the knife sharpened.

The blank set that the 'blues' endorsed on Saturday to Southampton at home has served to revitalize Thomas Tuchel's squad, which has retouched the speech. Six days ago, disappointed by the team's image of him in an unlucky week, he claimed that a comeback was impossible. “At this level we cannot think that the tie is alive. How many teams in the world manage to overcome this? Get three goals? It's not realistic," he maintained. Now, the German continues to underline the difficulty of the company, but he no longer considers it a chimera. "We don't have the best options, given the result of the first leg, given the competition and given his opponent and his stadium. But we never manage based on the possibilities we have based on the result. It is unlikely to come back, but it is worth trying and if we try, it will be because we play at the top, at the limit », he warns.

Ancelotti:

Football is a permanent roller coaster and whoever climbs too high risks getting a morrocotudo smack. Hence, the messages that have come out in recent days from the 'white house' have been unanimous: the tie is still alive. Emilio Butragueño said it on Saturday after the game against Getafe and
they reiterated this Monday Ancelotti and Casemiro. “We have to play a complete game, knowing that we will have to suffer, fight and compete for 90 minutes. We have to plan the same game as in the first leg, taking into account that we expect a rival who is going to get the best of it to try to win the tie, "said the transalpine. "I'm sure it will be a very difficult game. We did the best 90 minutes of the season the other day, but we can't trust anything. It's going to be a very difficult and complicated game because we're talking about the Champions League champion and we have to give everything", confirmed the Brazilian.

Tuchel wants to march

Real Madrid will fight the second assault with a significant absence, that of Militao, who received a third yellow card at Stamford Bridge and will serve a penalty. His loss will be covered by Nacho, with Castilista Rafa Marín as an emergency resource after Vallejo, the other central defender, was left out of the squad after testing positive for coronavirus. But the whites also have good news. Mendy will return to the left side, once the fatigue that made him miss the match has been overcome
against Getafe. Carvajal, Modric and Kroos also rested over the weekend and arrive fresh for another all-out battle in which Valverde's deployment will once again be essential.

Because Tuchel has thoroughly reviewed the lesson and wants to use the formula that helped him unseat Real Madrid the previous season: lead to collapse. "We need to find a way to make the game more physical," he said in the preview after acknowledging that his pupils were unable to execute the plan well in London due to the Whites' ability to manage the times.

The 'blues', who will set foot in the Santiago Bernabéu for the first time, have the loss of the injured Lukaku, a secondary actor in any case when interpreting the score because the Belgian striker is not to Tuchel's liking, but they will be able to count on Azpilicueta , since the Navarrese captain overcame covid-19 and entered the list, after missing the last day of the Premier.

Likely lineups

  • Real Madrid:
    Courtois, Carvajal, Nacho, Alaba, Mendy, Casemiro, Modric, Kroos, Valverde, Benzema and Vinicius.

  • Chelsea:
    Mendy, Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Rüdiger, James, Kanté, Kovacic, Marcos Alonso, Mount, Havertz and Pulisic.

  • Referee:
    Szymon Marciniak (Poland).

  • Time:
    9:00 p.m.

  • Stadium:
    Santiago Bernabeu.

  • TV:
    Movistar Champions League.



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