Wednesday night’s Manchester City-Real Madrid (8pm, TVI and Eleven) is the game of the year for many as a place in the Champions League final is at stake. On one side is the team considered to be in best shape at the moment, which is one victory away from the third English championship and the ninth in its history, while on the other side is the current European champion who is looking to the 15th Champions League in its history. After drawing 1-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu last week, the podium is now Ethiad, where City won just two games this season, losing to Brentford and drawing with Everton, masters of the Premier League.
you citizens they have an authentic fortress in their house, which makes even Pep Guardiola believe that this time he can break through a personal problem, after all, he lost seven of the 10 semi-finals in which he played as a coach, the last of which was a year ago, precisely with Real Madrid. “We are not stupid, we know how important this game is. Perhaps the most important one since I have been at this club,” said the Catalan coach who wants to become European champion for the first time in a good mood away from Barcelona, where he lifted the Cup in 2009 and 2011. That is practically the biggest mistake of his England career, which is why he was asked if winning the Champions League will define his legacy at City. “My legacy here is already exceptional! We have been here many times. I told the players to live in the moment. We are lucky because we have everything in our hands. We don’t have to do anything exceptional, we just have to take care of ourselves to be and to give everything,” he said with a smile, trying to ease the pressure of his athletes, including Portugal’s Bernardo Silva and Rúben Dias.
Still, he warned that it was necessary to “do better” than at Bernabéu to win the tie, after all, on the other side is a club that is playing its 32nd Champions League semi-final and has managed to reach the final 17 times, where only three times was defeated. An impressive CV, which is also shared by coach Carlo Ancelotti, record holder with four champions won in five contested finals. Perhaps because of that wealth of experience, he assured this Tuesday that he is “confident” in reaching the final in Istanbul on June 10, but before that he warns that it is necessary to be “concentrated on all the details” of the game . And that’s why he left a guarantee: “I’m not thinking about the penalty shoot-out. We’re thinking about winning the game.”
One of the questions to the Italian coach was how to stop City’s top scorer Erling Haaland, the top scorer in the Champions League with 12 goals and who has scored 52 goals in 48 games this season. “We can’t just look at one player. We have to plan the game well defensively,” he said.
As for Real Madrid’s success in the Champions League, Ancelotti has no explanation. “It is not easy to explain. It is special because of the history of the first European Cups. It is a very important competition for everyone and we must keep alive the history of Di Stéfano, Gento and Amâncio,” he stressed.
Kyle Walker, Vinicius and the meme
On the eve of a long-awaited duel, the highlight is a funny episode, starring Kyle Walker, the Manchester City defender who told of a conversation with Vinícius Júnior in the first leg, in which he made a special request to him, which ended with a hug at the end of the game.
“He tried to dribble me and I told him not to do it again because I didn’t want to be a meme on the internet,” revealed the 32-year-old, who said he had “the utmost respect” for the performance of RealMadrid. Brazilian striker. .
Source: DN
