Champions League
Semi-final, first leg
Real Madrid v Atlético Madrid
Santiago Bernabeu, Tuesday, 7.45pm, TV3, BT Sport 2
Zinedine Zidane does not think Real Madrid are favourites in their Champions League semi-final against Atlético Madrid, despite his side holding the upper hand in recent meetings with their city rivals.
Tuesday night’s first leg at the Bernabeu sees the two teams meet in the competition for the fourth successive year. Real have won on all three previous occasions, including in two finals in 2014 and 2016 as well as a quarter-final in between.
“We’re not favourites. It’s 50-50, as it always is in the knockout stages,” said Zidane at his pre-match press conference.
“We know each other very well. The rivalry with Atleti hasn’t changed since I was a player. It’s a derby in the capital. It’s intense, but the rivalry remains the same.
‘Good enough’
“We need to do everything well tomorrow. If we do, then we’ll see. We have to prove we are good enough. We will do everything in our power to win Tuesday night’s game and we can’t think about the return leg yet.
“To make it through to the semi-finals means you have done a very good job. We hope to go another step further.
“Atlético Madrid in the last four or five years have been very good, they get better every year and they are a tough test. We find them tough rivals.
“Atlético never give in, they keep fighting and they know what their strengths are. They are very good at getting the best out of their side. But let’s see, we have got plenty of strengths too and we want to focus on our game plan.
“We know how they play, their strengths and weaknesses – and they know ours. We cannot invent anything new. We are looking forward to the tie, that is for sure and, whatever we do, we have to play to our full potential.”
Zidane has been boosted by the news that Raphaël Varane is fit after a hamstring injury. However, fellow centre-half Pepe is not available.
Zidane gave little away about his team selection, refusing to be drawn on whether the likes of Isco or James Rodríguez would replace the injured Gareth Bale.
Defensive problems
Atlético look like they will have defensive problems at the Bernabeu, with José Giménez and Juanfran likely to miss out.
With Sime Vrsaljko already out, centre-half Giménez was filling in at right-back for Juanfran against Las Palmas on Saturday when he was injured.
Without any right-back available, Diego Simeone could play Stefan Savic in the position and bring youngster Lucas Hernández into the middle, although it is unlikely he would break up the Savic-Diego Godín partnership for such a big game.
Simeone told his pre-match press conference: “I see a match in which they make a strong start. They will try to hurt us in the first minutes with the intensity of their players.
“We will have to take the match to where we feel more comfortable. Two very big teams are going to play each other this Tuesday.”
He added, in quotes reported on the Atlético website: “We will put together a team that competes with the heart of any fan of Atlético de Madrid.”
