Tuesday, 26 April 2016
Home »
» THERE WILL BE NO STAGE FREIGHT WHEN MANCHESTER CITY LAND IN MADRID SAYS PELLEGRINI
THERE WILL BE NO STAGE FREIGHT WHEN MANCHESTER CITY LAND IN MADRID SAYS PELLEGRINI
Manchester city Chilean manager Manuel Pellegrini has said Manchester City will show no fear in Real Madrid for their Champions League semifinal second leg.
The City boss insisted the Spanish club were not favourites to reach the final despite holding his side to a 0-0 draw in Tuesday night's first leg at the Etihad.
Pellegrini's team have only lost one game away from home in the Champions League this season and any draw other than a scoreless one would be enough to ensure passage to a first-ever final in Milan on May 28.
However, Madrid have a fantastic record at the Bernabeu, where they have not conceded a goal in the Champions League this season.
Pellegrini told a press conference following the match: "I don't think they are favourites. As I said before the game we have the same option as Real Madrid.
"Of course, they have the advantage to play the first game away so they try to manage the tempo of the game. After that they finish at home. But this team play away very similar to the way we play at the Etihad.
"We had good results playing away at Paris Saint-Germain, Dynamo Kiev and Sevilla. We are not afraid to go to Bernabeu and we will see which team plays better in that game."Real Madrid were without three-time Ballon D'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo while striker Karim Benzema lasted only 45 minutes after missing the game at the weekend with Rayo Vallecano.
However, Pellegrini denied they had missed an opportunity to beat Madrid with such key players missing.
"I don't think Real Madrid [lacked quality] with the squad they have because Ronaldo didn't play, because Benzema played only 45 minutes, same as David Silva only played 40 minutes.
"They didn't have Ronaldo we didn't have Yaya. It was a very close game where we tried to win from the beginning -- we pressed high and recovered the ball very well. But we were not very creative, we couldn't create clear chances to score."
Pellegrini also praised Joe Hart after two brilliant saves in the last 15 minutes, which effectively kept City in the tie ahead of next Wednesday's second leg. The England keeper kept out a Casemiro header and Pepe's strike from very close range.
"It was very important because it was a corner he made a double save, one from Casemiro and one from Pepe," added the Chilean. "He didn't have much work during the whole game, but Joe is a good goalkeeper of a big team."
Related Posts:
CHELSEA TO HIRE A MANAGER AS SWIFT AS POSSIBLE SAYS HIDDINK Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink wants club to quickly secure the service of the next substantial manager and believes transparency surrounding the appointment would benefit the club. The Dutchman arrive… Read More
ABRAMOVICH SHOULD NOT INTERFERE WITH CONTES PHILOSOPHY IF HIRED AS CHELSEA BOSS SAYS PIRLO Legendary Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo has hailed Italy boss Antonio Conte as a "beast" and "genius" amid of been on the verge of moving to Chelsea, but also warned owner Roman Abramovich not to interfere with his philos… Read More
REAL MADRID CANT CATCH THIS WONDERFUL BARCELONA ADMITS McMANAMANFormer Real Madrid winger Steve McManaman has hailed former teammate Zinedine Zidane to succeed as Los Blancos coach, but has cautioned it will be difficult to make up the ground on Barcelona in the short term in part due t… Read More
HARRY KANE IN CONTENTION TO RETURN AGAINST SWANSEA Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino remains hopeful Harry Kane will be fit enough to face Swansea on Sunday. Kane sat out the Europa League victory over Fiorentina on Thursday night after breaking his nose agai… Read More
STERLING MAN CITY MOVE NOT A SUCCESS WITHOUT TROPHIES SAYS PELLEGRINIManchester city boss believes his multi million pounds signing Raheem Sterling must win trophies to consider his move from Liverpool a success. The 21-year-old, who missed training on Friday after picking up a knock in the… Read More
0 comments:
Post a Comment