The final of the Champions League next month in Milan will be an all-Madrid affair and a repeat of the 2014 showpiece, after Real Madrid sauntered past Manchester City to set up a clash with Atletico on 28 May.
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With the match ending 1-0, Real booked a spot in the final against league rivals Atletico Madrid, after both clubs failed to score in the first-leg.
Simeone told Radio La Red: “The final against Real Madrid is 50-50, we both know each other well. My team feels very identified with us, I’m very lucky to have them”. We played against a strong team but they weren’t better than us.
“I don’t think we saw a superior Madrid, we pressed them, but with the ball we lacked the creativity to do damage”, he said.
“The first season we won two titles and got to the Round of 16 in the Champions League”.
Madrid are also in their best domestic form of the season, winning 10 league games in a row and there is an undeniable sense the players enjoy a tighter bond than under Benitez. We had a lot of experience of being in the semi-finals and we did a very professional job.
Madrid had chances to put the game beyond doubt, with Bale hitting the post and Luka Modric denied by Joe Hart, as City’s star duo Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne were kept quiet throughout in the Spanish capital.
“That’s a statistic that is not very important for me”, added Pellegrini.
In the second half, Real Madrid emphasised on defence without discarding the option of getting a second goal on the counterattack. They had their moments but I don’t think they had a shot on target in two games – maybe just one.
Kompany’s recent return meant that the France worldwide was benched for Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat to Los Blancos in their Champions League semi-final second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu. They haven’t been in this position before and it’s never easy in these games. Ronaldo stressed he was “very happy” to be in the final of the Champions League.
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“I guess you could say they could have thrown a little bit more but they didn’t”.
