Zinedine Zidane gave Real Madrid fans some good news after he declared Cristiano Ronaldo fit to play in the second leg of the tie against Manchester City. Los Blancos’ attack looked a bit toothless without the Portuguese forward during the first leg but will now have him back for tonight’s match.
Pellegrini praised the three-time Ballon d ‘Or winner ahead of City’s game against Real Madrid saying, “Cristiano will always be a different player -- he scores a lot of goals and has throughout his six years here.”
But he also went on to say that Madrid are not over-reliant on the player. “However, I don't think Real are just Cristiano Ronaldo. We must work as a team defending and attacking. Not just against Ronaldo but against Real Madrid.”
Ronaldo did return to training before the first leg of the tie but was unable to participate after he aggravated his injury in training. He was left frustrated as he watched his team battle out a 0-0 draw at the Etihad stadium.
The Portuguese international has been Real’s shining light on several occasions. The club would not have made it to the semis if it had not been for his heroics against Wolfsburg. After the team was trailing by two goals in the first leg Ronaldo inspired Madrid to victory with an incredible hat-trick.
Pellegrini insists his team must be focused on their goal saying, “Our motivation must be to reach a final which we've never done before against a great team in a beautiful stadium.It's important tomorrow because it's high pressure but we have the personality and the football to beat them.”
This season Manchester City have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for the very first time in their history. Their previous best was the round of 16 last year when they were knocked out by Barcelona.
Having defeated the likes of Juventus and Paris-Saint-Germain already, City might fancy their chances against Madrid. “Everyone must trust in their team -- we trust in ours and I hope we can demonstrate it in the 90 minutes. We are sure we will need to make a very good performance to reach the final -- it would be the first time we've reached it.”
There is positive injury news for City as well after Yaya Toure has been confirmed fit for the game. But Pablo Zabaleta will miss the match after picking up a muscle injury at Southampton on Sunday.
