“I have to play”.
Advertisement
A return to the UCL final will most definitely be something to relish for Atletico supporters and they may very well be on course to facing their City rivals Real Madrid in what would be a repeat of the 2013/14 final which saw Los Merengues claim their tenth UCL trophy. We want to give it our all, and so do I.
Guardiola will be able to call on Franck Ribery, who came through a training session after suffering a minor back injury. “We all have reasons and there are different ways of playing football”, he added. But I need to get a feeling for the pitch again – the passes, the scenes, the turns.
Ahead of the second leg, at the Allianz Arena this Tuesday evening, it appears the Atletico Madrid coach, Diego Simeone, adopted a similar principle. The winger missed the home draw with Monchengladbach with a back problem but was free to train on Monday as he called on Guardiola to pick him as the man to unlock Atletico’s dogged defence.
“I am doing a lot better”, Ribery told Kicker.
The German side host Atletico in the second leg on Tuesday having lost the first game 1-0 and they were held to a 1-1 draw by Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday. “Culturally I maybe wanted to improve a few things in the team but if you look back I think everything we have achieved is really good”.
It is not the first time they have faced adversity in the competition this year as they recovered from 2-0 down in the last round to beat Juventus 4-2 in extra-time.
For the Bavarians, home field should be something to cherish, as the team has procured 14 wins, one loss and one draw in the Bundesliga and a whopping record of five wins in five games in this year’s Champions League.
Bayern Munich have kept only one clean sheet in their five Champions League knockout games this season (1-0 v Benfica, quarter-final first leg), the lowest total among the four semi-finalists. Well, it’s all set to go down in midweek so let’s keep our eyes fixated on the UCL to see who comes out on top.
“But against a tough side we didn’t manage it”. I am expecting a 2-1 win for Bayern as a result here which sees Athletico go through to the next stage of the tournament. We die for each other and every game is a battle.
Advertisement
Influential central defender Diego Godin returns from a hamstring injury, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco is also available and Tiago Mendes travels despite not yet being passed fit to play.
