Real Madrid travel to Manchester City for the first leg of their Uefa Champions League semi-final on Tuesday. Here Steve Luckings highlights five reasons why Madrid will not only overcome City but go all the way to an 11th European Cup in next month's final.
Read more: Five reasons why Manchester City will win the Uefa Champions League
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The ‘BBC’
While a third of Madrid’s verited triumvirate is struggling to be fit, two thirds of it are primed and in devastating form for the trip to Etihad Stadium. Karim Benzema limped off injured during Saturday’s Primera Liga match against Rayo Vallecano, and is a doubt for the Manchester City match, while Cristiano Ronaldo was rested. In their absence, Gareth Bale showed exactly why Real Madrid made him the world’s most expensive player in 2013. With his side 2-0 down the Welshman grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck to haul Madrid to a 3-2 win with two clinically taken goals, including the winner. Ronaldo, who is sure of a less-than-hospitable reception given his Manchester United connections, has scored an incredible 16 goals in 10 games in this season’s competition. Goals win games, and Madrid tend to score lots of them in this competition.
‘The Tank’
One of the better nicknames doing the rounds in world football at the moment. It applies to Casemiro, the Brazilian anchoring Madrid’s midfield or more mercurial talents. Casemiro proved his credentials on the biggest stage this season when Madrid went to Camp Nou last month to win el clasico and set off a domino effect that allowed both Madrid and city rivals Atletico back into the title race in Spain. The way he bullied Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta and smothered Sergio Busquets shut down the Barcelona machine. With Kevin de Bruyne back from injury and pulling the strings for Manchester City, Casemiro will need to bring the heavy artillery.
Zinedine Zidane
None were more spectacular than the Frenchman’s volley to secure the 2001/02 Champions League for Real Madrid. The ball came back down to earth with snow on the peak as Zidane cocked his left leg and let fly a strike that would forever endear him to Madristas as they beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 for their ninth European Cup. Zidane, who took over from Rafa Benitez in January, has long made this competition his priority. While Barcelona’s slump in form in April allowed Real Madrid back into the title race, it is the Champions League where Real have excelled under Zidane this season, overcoming a difficult Roma side in the last 16 before overturning a 2-0 deficit to triumph over Wolfsburg at the quarter-final stage.
Experience
This is the 27th time Real Madrid have contested a semi-final of either the European Cup or the Champions League and are appearing at this stage for a sixth successive season. Their record reads 13 wins and 13 defeats at the last-four stage, but as the tournament’s record holders with 10 trophies, a know-how of getting into the championship game is ingrained at the Bernabeu. By contrast City have contested just two European semi-finals, beating Schalke 5-2 on aggregate in the 1969/70 European Cup Winners’ Cup and losing to Chelsea 2-0 over two legs the following season.
Keylor Navas
During the protracted transfer saga last summer over David de Gea’s on-off move to Real Madrid, it was completely overlooked that in Keylor Navas the Bernabeu already possessed a world-class goalkeeper. The Costa Rican commands his box like a general sending troops into the battle field and his shot-stopping ability is up there with the best. Manchester City have recorded some notable wins home and away this season, and in Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne are sure to test the Real Madrid goalkeeper’s credentials over two legs.
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