Can Real Madrid Win ‘La Décima’ UEFA Champions League Title?
If Real Madrid can beat Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final in Lisbon on Saturday, May 24 and win “La Décima,” fans would forgive them not winning La Liga.
No doubt Atlético holds some advantage over their city arch rival after being crowned one of the most unlikely (but not undeserving) champions of the Spanish league this past weekend, something that had not happened for them since the 1995-1996 season.
With that behind them, Diego Simeone’s men are ready to face one of the most powerful clubs in all of football, Real Madrid and its superstar Ronaldo, who has been nursing a leg injury that kept him out of the last La Liga match.
The Real Madrid forward assures that he will be ready and eager to play in what “Los Blancos” hope will become “La Décima,” the club’s 10th UEFA Champions League title on Saturday in Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, his own backyard.
Cristiano has been asking fans to come out and support Real Madrid against Atlético on Twitter:
Training for the final on Saturday! #APorLaDécima @realmadrid http://t.co/Z72YgacX6A
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) May 20, 2014
Hey all @realmadrid fans! Come cheer us #APorLaDécima. Your support is our strenght. http://t.co/qPVmohXb81
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) May 21, 2014
Saturday we’ll play #APorLaDécima. Cheer for the team and predict the result on Sportlobster http://t.co/4aMqGX2y84
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) May 22, 2014
For Ronaldo, winning the Champions League title with Real Madrid in his home soil would mean more than almost anything in this world and would end an otherwise magnificent year for the 29-year-old.
Real Madrid is already in Lisbon, where players were seen arriving at their hotel on Thursday:
Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at the hotel in Lisbon. pic.twitter.com/F4zkJGuWZi
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cr7Prince4ever) May 22, 2014
Real Madrid is a legendary name in Champions League history, winning five consecutive titles between 1955 and 1960, later on in the 60s, 90s, and in the 2000s they brought home four additional trophies.
The fact that Ronaldo is one of the highest paid players in the world, winner of this season’s Ballon d’Or, and considered one of the best players to ever play the game, puts added pressure on Real Madrid.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti is cognizant of this fact, and expects Ronaldo and Gareth Bale to be fit and ready to battle Atlético on Saturday.
The setting should be spectacular as Portuguese fans welcome one of their favorite sons, Cristiano Ronaldo and his team Real Madrid, which is trying to go where no other team has gone in UEFA Champions League history and claim La Décima.
[Image via Twitter]