Manuel Pellegrini claims Manchester City have “nothing to fear” against his former club Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.
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Real Madrid’s Lucas Vazquez has insisted that Manchester City are not an easy opponent for Los Merengues in the Champions League semi-final.
City hosts the first leg at Etihad Stadium on 27 April (AEST), with the return leg set for Santiago Bernabeu on 5 May (AEST).
Atletico, winners over defending champions Barcelona in the quarter-finals, and Bayern have met once before in European action, in the 1974 final.
Real launched a brilliant second-leg comeback to beat Wolfsburg, overturning a 2-0 first-leg deficit through a Ronaldo hat-trick, running out 3-0 winners on the night. The second leg matches will happen on May 3,4.
Real, who won that game 4-1 after extra-time, will play first-time semi-finalists Manchester City.
It’s has been a season with ups and downs, but in the Champions League we’ve been doing well.
Sevilla overcame Athletic Bilbao on penalties to stay on course to become the first side to win the Europa League three times in a row, while Shakhtar secured their place in the semi-finals by beating Braga of Portugal 6-1 over two legs.
The final could also be a meeting of coach Pep Guardiola’s current and future teams. “Spanish teams are always strong in the Champions League and I have seen in the last few years how strong Atletico are in the Spanish league”, Guardiola said.
“But the most important thing was that we didn’t win a title but in Real Madrid it’s very hard – 75 per cent of supporters wanted me to stay”.
The semi-final ties will be played on Thursday, April 28th and Thursday, May 5th. “In this moment I think they are playing the semi-final of the Champions League and they still have options in the Spanish league, so as always it is a team that is involved in all”.
“There are no favourites, it’s exactly the same”, said Pellegrini.
Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema lead Madrid’s attack but with City boasting the likes of Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, there looks sure to be plenty of goals.
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“Madrid is always the favorite, it will always be like that”, Zidane said.
