Champions League: THE REAL DEAL

Madrid, April 8

One of the Champions League’s newest rivalries resumes this week with Real Madrid hoping to take advantage of the extended rest it’s had ahead of tomorrow’s quarterfinal against Manchester City.

20 Bellingham has 20 goals and 10 assists since joining Madrid and is one of the club’s top attacking weapons this season

I’m very nervous. Is defeat suffering and victory, happiness? No, it’s really a relief. Because the days after are calmer. Suffering is part of the job, it keeps you alive, it’s fuel for me. Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid coach

Advertisement

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, entering his record-extending 200th Champions League match, has had eight full days to prepare his squad for facing Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City for the third straight year in the knockout rounds of Europe’s top club competition.

City, meanwhile, played on Saturday at Crystal Palace in the Premier League and Guardiola wasn’t happy about the considerable difference in the teams’ preparation time.

Madrid’s last La Liga match was on March 31, a 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao. Madrid didn’t have to play this past weekend as the Spanish calendar was reserved for the Copa

del Rey final.

Madrid eliminated City two seasons ago with a late comeback in the second leg of the semifinals at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where they haven’t lost in 27 straight games in all competitions dating back to last April.

But, City got the better of Madrid last season, advancing after a 4-0 rout in the second leg of the semifinals at home. Both clubs went on to win the Champions League title after eliminating their rivals.

The last four matches between the clubs produced 17 goals in total. They will have faced each other 12 times in 12 years after this season’s quarterfinals. So far, there are four wins for City and three for Madrid, with three draws. Both teams are trying to reach the semifinals of the Champions League for the fourth straight time.

Ancelotti will try to win his third Champions League title with Madrid with a squad that this season was boosted by the signing of Jude Bellingham. The young England midfielder has never played in the Premier League, having joined Borussia Dortmund at an early age, but he has faced Man City four times and scored twice against the English side. — AP