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Under the tutelage of Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid romped to another La Liga title with four matches to spare after a stupendous 4-0 victory over Espanyol. With one trophy already under their belt, the record UEFA Champions League winners have now set their eyes on turning around their one-goal deficit when they take on defending Premier League champions Manchester City in the second leg of their semifinal clash at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night.
Los Blancos lost the first leg 4-3, and a lot of the blame fell on their defensive frailties, believes former Barcelona academy graduate and Indian Super League (ISL) winner Jofre Mateu, who concurred with Ancelotti on the same, "Ancelotti said they were not defending well at the Etihad. This is probably because City are a very forceful team and the rhythm is something Madrid were not comfortable with.
"If Madrid wants to play in the final they have to improve in terms of defence. Probably be more threatening (going forward) because they had three clear chances plus the penalty, so I think three chances is not enough against a team like City," he added.
Mateu also expects the return of Casemiro to boost Madrid's defending. The Brazilian is a defensive pivot in the midfield and his absence was deeply felt in the first leg. "Casemiro is going to be there. He is a key player for Madrid in a defensive aspect. I think it's going to be a close match like the first leg, with City controlling the ball, because there is no Manchester City match where they are not controlling the tempo. It's going to be close but Real Madrid always have 10-15 minutes of pushing that affects all the opponents. I am not expecting a huge difference but Madrid has chances," he said.
Meanwhile, Mateu also expects Liverpool to make some changes in the team ahead of the match given their title challenge in the Premier League. "Liverpool is playing in the second leg. Given that they are at a disadvantage in the premier league, I can imagine probably a couple of changes. Probably Jota, Keita. they have a chance to rest some players because they are fighting for the premier league. The advantage is not huge but enough."
"These changes will not affect the XI much because the plan will be the same. Klopp has this advantage. Not expecting seven changes, but some amount of rest is going to be there," Mateu added.
Where to watch:
Watch UEFA Champions League 2021-22 (Semi Final Leg 2) - Real Madrid vs. Man. City LIVE on SONY TEN 2 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) & SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels on 5th May 2022, from 12:30 am IST.
