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Zinedine Zidane Talks Real Madrid vs. Manchester City, Cristiano Ronaldo, More
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has admitted his side will have failed if they do not eliminate Manchester City from the UEFA Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night, booking a place in the final against either Atletico Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Sam Marsden of Sport quoted the Frenchman in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, as Los Blancos welcome the Sky Blues to the Spanish capital for the second leg of the semi-final after a goalless draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Zidane said:
Yes [it would be a failure].
Up until this point, we have said that we have won nothing. We are in a good moment, but the idea is to give our all tomorrow and to try to reach the final.
But it will be a really difficult game. If we don’t go through, it will be a failure because we want to go through.
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The French coach also confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo will return for the Galacticos after missing the first leg with an injury.
Tom Beck of Goal.com quoted Zidane speaking about the Portuguese icon's availability, but he added Karim Benzema will not be risked for the tie—and defensive midfielder Casemiro is still struggling for optimum fitness:
Cristiano is 100 per cent, but Benzema and Casemiro are different.
I'd have liked to have Casemiro and Benzema, but it is not like that, others will play and they will do well. Karim today still had an issue, and we did not want to take any risks.
Casemiro is Casemiro, but we have other players who can do same work as he does. (It is) not a (serious) injury, but he had bruise and did not train today. We have a big enough squad to cover.
Madrid had opportunities to put the match to bed in England, but the loss of Ronaldo left Zidane's team lacking in front of goal, despite several strong scoring opportunities.
Ronaldo has once again hit the heights in Europe this term, scoring 16 goals in only 10 appearances, according to WhoScored.com.
Here is a video of the superstar's recent contribution to Madrid's run in Europe in 2015-16:
SHAREThe Real coach also mentioned the threat of Sergio Aguero ahead of the match, as City look to tip the scales in their favour. However, Zidane said he has "no special plan" or tactics in place to stop the diminutive Argentina hit man, per the official Champions League Twitter account: Aguero has been one of the few City players to show their maximum value in the Sky Blues shirt during the current campaign, and to have no plan for his attacking prowess could be a huge mistake from Madrid.As ever, Real will be hoping to fight fire with fire as Ronaldo returns to the fold after his recent absence, but if Aguero reproduces magic on his return to Spain, it could be a night of disappointment for Madridistas across the country. City need just a score draw to progress, forcing the hosts to win by a clear margin to advance.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has admitted his side will have failed if they do not eliminate Manchester City from the UEFA Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night, booking a place in the final against either Atletico Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Sam Marsden of Sport quoted the Frenchman in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, as Los Blancos welcome the Sky Blues to the Spanish capital for the second leg of the semi-final after a goalless draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Zidane said:
Yes [it would be a failure].Up until this point, we have said that we have won nothing. We are in a good moment, but the idea is to give our all tomorrow and to try to reach the final.But it will be a really difficult game. If we don’t go through, it will be a failure because we want to go through.
es
The French coach also confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo will return for the Galacticos after missing the first leg with an injury.
Tom Beck of Goal.com quoted Zidane speaking about the Portuguese icon's availability, but he added Karim Benzema will not be risked for the tie—and defensive midfielder Casemiro is still struggling for optimum fitness:
Cristiano is 100 per cent, but Benzema and Casemiro are different.
I'd have liked to have Casemiro and Benzema, but it is not like that, others will play and they will do well. Karim today still had an issue, and we did not want to take any risks.Casemiro is Casemiro, but we have other players who can do same work as he does. (It is) not a (serious) injury, but he had bruise and did not train today. We have a big enough squad to cover.
Madrid had opportunities to put the match to bed in England, but the loss of Ronaldo left Zidane's team lacking in front of goal, despite several strong scoring opportunities.
Ronaldo has once again hit the heights in Europe this term, scoring 16 goals in only 10 appearances, according to WhoScored.com.
Here is a video of the superstar's recent contribution to Madrid's run in Europe in 2015-16:
SHAREThe Real coach also mentioned the threat of Sergio Aguero ahead of the match, as City look to tip the scales in their favour. However, Zidane said he has "no special plan" or tactics in place to stop the diminutive Argentina hit man, per the official Champions League Twitter account: Aguero has been one of the few City players to show their maximum value in the Sky Blues shirt during the current campaign, and to have no plan for his attacking prowess could be a huge mistake from Madrid.As ever, Real will be hoping to fight fire with fire as Ronaldo returns to the fold after his recent absence, but if Aguero reproduces magic on his return to Spain, it could be a night of disappointment for Madridistas across the country. City need just a score draw to progress, forcing the hosts to win by a clear margin to advance.
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