The much anticipated draw for the Semi-Finals of the UEFA Champions League, held in the Swiss city of Nyon.
Advertisement
The Spaniard has yet to win the Champions League during his time in Bavaria, with his team getting knocked out at the semi-final stage during the last two campaigns.
The semi-final line-up is strong, and while City-who saw off Chelsea 3-0 in Premier League action on Saturday-are arguably less menacing than serial champions Bayern Munich and Real’s near-neighbours Atletico Madrid, Marcelo has refused to accept they’re the easiest possible opponents.
The 27-year-old, who has said he wants to one day rejoin boyhood club Independiente in Buenos Aires, said: “It has been said that I would go home if I won the Champions League”.
Atletico Madrid became one of the survivors when they had eliminated the FC Barcelona in the quarterfinals as reported earlier.
The final will take place at Milan s San Siro stadium on May 28.
“It’s a semifinal like any other so it will be very, very tough”, Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said.
“They have very big players – maybe they are the most important team in the world”, said the City manager.
“The second year we played a very strong Barcelona, better than our team with Neymar, Messi and Suarez in their best moments”.
It wasn’t so long ago that England had three out of the four semi-finalists, but now I think it’s fair to say that Manchester City weren’t expected to make it this far – and they are the only English team left. Real Madrid will face off against Man City and Atletico Madrid take on Bayern Munich. They play with lots of character.
Jose Luis Caminero, Atletico’s sporting director and former player, described the tie as “complicated” but promised the Spanish side would “compete to our maximum as we always do”.
“Clearly they (Real) are (favourites), this is their 26th semi-final, their sixth in a row, but we are very capable”.
Advertisement
Asked if he celebrated Barca’s exit, Pellegrini said: “No, I didn’t celebrate, but if you ask me ‘do I not prefer to play against them?'” The first leg will be played in Seville, before 2009 champions Shakhtar host the second game in Lviv.
