Real Madrid Starts Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema Against Bayern Munich In UCL Second-Leg Semifinal
Real Madrid will be back to full force as starters Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, and Cristiano Ronaldo — known collectively as BBC — return to the field together and are expected to play the UEFA Champions League second-leg semifinal against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is optimistic that his three main goal scorers will be able to play in Munich:
“If there are all fit, they will play. We need to score over there and the quicker we do so the better.”
“Bale had the flu before the game on Wednesday and was very weak for two days, so we thought it best to leave him out.”
“He trained this morning, he is feeling better and, like Karim, he should be ready for Tuesday.”
During their narrow 1-0 victory last Wednesday (goal by Benzema), which saw the end of Ronaldo’s consecutive goal streak, Real Madrid was not 100 percent. However, even with the Portuguese striker just returning from a four game absence and Bale’s illness. “Los Blancos” did manage the win; resorting to their almost unstoppable counter-attack, one of the best in football.
So Real Madrid comes in with a small advantage to the Allianz Arena to face the current UCL champs; the powerful Bayern Munich, who are looking to silence their critics after their poor showing last Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola played down the narrow defeat at the hands of Real Madrid, saying they had a strong team and so on, but truthfully, Bayern could have probably done more, despite Real’s great defense that proved to be impenetrable for the Germans.
Real Madrid is the winningest team in Champions League history with nine titles, but they haven’t reached the finals in 12-years; a fact that the BBC will try to correct when they take the field Tuesday.
The Spanish team is also looking to revenge their loss on penalties in the 2012 final — at the hands of Bayern Munich — a crushing defeat for Ancelotti and his squad.
The Copa del Rey champions, Real Madrid, are also hungry and want another international trophy, as their hopes of winning La Liga keep looking slim, with a very strong campaign from Atlético Madrid, who is battling Chelsea in the other semi.
“We won the cup and now we want the Champions League,” said @realmadrid‘s @GarethBale11: http://t.co/Llo3wjyppQ pic.twitter.com/JurWpY72u8
— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 29, 2014
RETWEET if you think Real Madrid will win tonight. pic.twitter.com/cPAyCd5g4y
— Football Tweets (@FutballTweets) April 29, 2014
Whatever the end result, the match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich will most likely be a display of some of the best football in Europe and possibly the world, as they are two of the top teams in their sport. Kick-off is at 2:45 pm/ET.
[Image via Bing and Twitter]
