The Champions League draw for the semi-finals has been decided. Manchester City will be facing Real Madrid while Atletico Madrid will take on Bayern Munich. City have had the best run in the competition in their history but will be considered underdogs against the Spanish giants.
Atletico and Bayern are both very strong teams and it looks like it will be a battle of attack vs defense. Having knocked out Barcelona in the quarter-finals Diego Simeone’s men will be confident of taking on the German giants.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid
Manuel Pellegrini spoke about the tie in his press conference:
“It’s a difficult draw, doesn’t matter who we were going to draw, it was always going to be difficult. The motivation is the semi-final.”
City director of football Txiki Begiristain knows Real Madrid well having been part of the Barcelona administration at one point. The chief believes Madrid will be a tough task for the English side “We know how many times Real Madrid have won the Champions League and been in numerous semi-finals so it is going to be very difficult.”
"We saw how they came back in the quarter-finals against Wolfsburg, recovering from 2-0 down to win the second leg 3-0. Probably the worst thing for us is playing the second leg at the Bernabéu which is a huge stadium with a lot of history in this competition.”
"We have been doing good things in the previous rounds, particularly in the round of 16 and quarter-final where we have been solid and defended well and we know with the players we have in the final third that we can create a lot of chances.”
"We are confident and we will aim to make it very difficult for Real Madrid over the two legs; we want to get to the final in Milan and we know we can do this.”
Real Madrid’s director Emilio Butragueno. was thrilled with the tie and said it would be a great contest Here’s what he said according to AS:
“It’s Difficult. It’s always the same at this stage all teams are very strong. They have players who are able to win a game on their own. We are very pleased to be here in the semi-final our quarter-final tie was really difficult… We have to play at our highest level otherwise we’ll be in trouble.”
"I think it’s going to be a very thrilling tie, two entertaining games,I think because Manchester City they play an offensive game, Real Madrid as well so it will be very exciting for fans”
Zinedine Zidane was against the notion that they have an easy tie in his press conference:
“To pass you have to play against all. Roma, VfL Wolfsburg and at Manchester City are three strong teams. It's a semifinal, it'll be very difficult. If there is something positive is that we play the return at home”
Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich
Pep Guardiola wanted to avoid Manchester City in the semi-finals and he got his wish. Here’s what he said according to FCBayernEN:
“We need 100% concentration for 90 mins. And then again for 90 mins. They have conceded very few goals in recent years because they have a very good structure. The German players have never played against Atlético. It will be a really great experience for them.”
“Atletico Madrid have reached a new level in the past five years”
Sporting director of Bayern Munich Mathias Sammer also spoke about the tie saying, “Atlético's fighting spirit is phenomenal. The chances are 50-50.”
Xabi Alonso who has faced Atletico several times during his Real Madrid days warned Bayern how strong they can be. “Atlético are strong opponents. They defend well, but are also strong in attack”
“The Estadio Vicente Calderón has an incredible atmosphere, but we have enough experience.” the Spaniard added.
Philippe Lahm also praised Bayern’s opponents saying, “They always remain calm, even when defending around their own penalty area. It will be interesting! It's wonderful for the fans, but I would have preferred it the other way around.
“When the away side scores in the second leg, so much can change.”
José Luis Caminero who is the sporting director of Atletico Madrid said, “It will be a complicated knockout round, be we'll compete till the end as we always do. We play against one of the most successful teams in Europa, used to being in semi-finals”
Twitter reactions
This is what Toni Kroos thought abut the draw:
Lothar Matthaus gave his prediction for the ties:
Lahm also tweeted about the tie:
Elaquim Mangala knows how tough the task at hand is
