Real Madrid and Manchester City have been united by many things in recent years, and whoever thought they had seen spectacular duels between the "royal club" and the "citizen" should get ready for new pages of history.
They are written by Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola, Vinicius Junior and Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland, Toni Kroos and Kevin de Bruyne...
The constellation of aces will meet again, Real and City are waiting for the third consecutive clash in the knockout phase of the Champions League, and the fourth in the last five years. It is not known which of the previous matches was more uncertain, so even now it is expected to explode in all directions, even though it is "only" the quarterfinals...
The most trophy club in the European elite against the current champion is a football holiday in the announcement, but at the same time a big battle will be fought in North London - Arsenal and Bayern will meet. Both games start at 21:XNUMX, tomorrow at the same time Atletico Madrid - Borussia and Paris Saint-Germain - Barcelona.
ANGELOTI'S JUBILEE
Ancelotti is a giant of world football, and tonight will be the 200th time on the bench in the Champions League, a competition he has won four times - twice with Milan and Real.
- We have an incredibly attractive double match ahead of us. Both teams have their strengths - we think there are details in which we are better than City, the rival surely believes that there are segments in which it is dominant compared to us. It's about nuances, we have 180 minutes of a great fight ahead of us - said the Italian.
Last season, City eliminated the Merengues in the semi-finals on their way to their first title in history. It was 1:1 in Madrid, and even 4:0 at the Etihad for Guardiola's team in one of the most dominant performances in such a distant stage of the competition. Real hasn't been so broken in a long time...
- City was the best and that's why they won the title - pointed out Ancelotti and looked back on the jubilee:
- It is a great achievement. I remember the first game, it was against Sparta Prague when I was in charge of Parma. Reaching 200 games means a lot, especially at my age - said the 64-year-old expert.
REALLY MORE RESTED, SATISFIED WEAKENED
Real played their last game on March 31, and behind and in front of the "citizens" there is a killer rhythm. In seven days, they had three matches in the Premier League, a duel with Luton awaits them at the weekend, and next Wednesday, a rematch against Real.
- I didn't have much time to deal with Real, but I believe we will be ready - Guardiola said.
City is not complete, Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker did not arrive in Madrid. The English national team player will be especially missed, a defender who can match Vinicius with speed.
- In the Champions League, you always want to go all the way, but there are so many factors that you cannot control. We won it last season after so many attempts, but that doesn't mean we don't want to do it again - said the Catalan.
Guardiola knows that Real is a different team than it was last season.
- And this is mainly due to the influence of Bellingham. The guy is incredible - added the manager of the current English, European and world champion.
KANE AGAIN AT THE EMIRATES
Bayern almost certainly lost the title in the Bundesliga (Bayer has 16 points more), so the Champions League is the only competition in which they have a chance to win the trophy. However, how Thomas Tuchel's team looks, few can imagine the scenario in which captain Manuel Neuer lifts the cup on June 1 at "Wembley".
- Despite all the problems they have, the Bavarians are a top team. I have a lot of respect for Tuchel, I learned a lot from analyzing him and if we want to go to the semi-finals we have to play our game. There's no way we'll fall into Bayern's rhythm - says Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal have had some heavy defeats in duels with the German giants in the recent past.
- It's all part of history, and when you look at Bayern's squad, a lot of things are clear to you. I watch my players improve every day, especially you can see how much better we are compared to six months ago and we have a challenge ahead of us that we are looking forward to, because we wanted to get to these kinds of games - said Arteta.
Harry Kane "took off" the shirt of Tottenham, Arsenal's biggest rival, in order to win trophies, but it seems that there is nothing to do in his debut season at the "Allianz Arena".
- Harry is the biggest, not the only, danger. We all know who he is, what qualities he has and how he can rock the net. We have to tame him - added Arteta.
Tuchel is sure to go at the end of the season, and he may not even finish it in case he is relegated from Arsenal.
- I want a reaction and a much better edition than in most of the matches lately. Even in the Champions League, motivation should not be a problem, when we already know how things are in the championship - said the European champion with Chelsea.
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