Manchester City have avoided a meeting with future boss Pep Guardiola after being drawn to play Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
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City were also struggling in the first leg of their quarter-final-against Paris Saint-Germain-and were 2-1 down until Fernandinho’s equaliser changed the complexion of the tie ahead of the return at the Etihad Stadium.
Real won the first clash 3-2, while the return game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Atletico Madrid general manager Clemente Villaverde has spoken of his excitement at the upcoming Champions League semi-final between his Spanish club and Bayern Munich.
It will be the second time Atletico and Bayern will meet in Europe – the last was the 1974 final, which the German giants won. “The two games are going to be very tight”.
Real Madrid beat Atletico 4-1 after extra-time in the 2014 final at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon to secure their tenth European Cup.
“We need to play two games at a very high level if we want to get to the final in Milan”.
“I know how good Atletico is”, Guardiola said. “They have very big players, maybe they are the most important team in the world, but we also have very good players and we know that if we play how we play every week to have the chance to win”, he said.
Pellegrini was sacked by Real in 2010 after just one season and replaced by Jose Mourinho following early elimination from the Champions League and the disappointment of losing out on the La Liga title to Barcelona.
This time tickets will be priced from £35-60 for adults, but the club will reward the loyalty of more than 20,000 fans by offering a cut-price deal.
These teams have only met twice in European competition, when they were in the same group during the 2012-13 campaign.
Atletico made the last four thanks to Wednesday evening’s 2-0 victory over Barcelona, which saw the holders eliminated 3-2 on aggregate.
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“Real Madrid are always the favourites and that’s no different in the semi-final against Manchester City”, Zidane said at a media conference.
