I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 795: Chapter 51: Champions League Quarterfinals

Now it is quite clear that the league championship trophy has already flown to Camp Nou.

If Real Madrid can defeat Barcelona in the league, they are very likely to secure the league championship in advance.

In fact, within the team, what Mourinho talks about the most is not the national derby but the King’s Cup final and the Champions League quarter-finals, after all, even if Real Madrid loses to Barcelona in the league, they still have a 3-point lead.

But if they lose in the Champions League quarter-finals or the King’s Cup final, that would be terrible.

Mourinho also harbors an ambition inside, which is to lead Real Madrid to win the Triple Crown.

The Champions League quarter-finals have arrived, and for Mourinho, who loves challenges, this is the big stage he has longed for.

At the pre-match press conference, Mourinho said that a 0-0 or 1-1 draw with the opponent at home in the first leg is not a bad thing, but considering the importance of the match, he still decided to field Real Madrid’s golden lineup.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Di Maria, and Marcelo, although not fully recovered from injuries, will still take the risk to play, Benzema cannot play, but Adebayor is ready to step in.

For Real Madrid, injuries seem to be quite a big problem, without mentioning the Portuguese issue, Di Maria noticed a muscle strain trend after the last match, Sporting Gijon’s defense left the Argentine with some internal injuries, Marcelo, and Benzema’s injuries were caused in the national team.

Now the only relatively sound player in Real Madrid is Chen Zhong, who has no national team duties.

Compared to the injury-ridden Real Madrid, Tottenham is in much better shape.

Their main players are in good condition, such as striker Crouch, midfielders Modric, Van der Vaart, and Bell are all in great form.

In response, Real Madrid also has measures, which are to mobilize Real Madrid fans to watch the match live, and the supporters of the White Army will turn the Bernabeu into an impregnable fortress with their cheers.

Acting as the best 12th man.

Marca commented that now there are only 8 teams left in the Champions League, one of which is Real Madrid, and Tottenham Hotspur is also one of the 8 teams. This brave team always directly challenges your gaze, fighting bravely on the field. Adebayor said: ”Tottenham Hotspur is exceptionally outstanding overall, whether in attack or defense, they emphasize team spirit. Even if they are 0-3 behind, their pace will not drop within 90 minutes. We have to be clear that no matter the score, they will not surrender. In short, this is the spirit of British football; they will not give up until the match is over.”

Mourinho stated that the teams participating in the quarter-finals are all top teams in Europe, and this also makes Real Madrid only able to consider the match against Tottenham now and cannot look further.

Of course, Real Madrid must quickly shift their mindset away from the draw against Sporting Gijon, Mourinho intentionally reduced the pressure on the players at the pre-match press conference, saying that even a 0-10 loss to Sporting Gijon does not matter because that match has no relevance to this Champions League match.

Real Madrid has shifted their focus entirely to the Champions League match, Mourinho is also willing to take risks because the Champions League match concerns life, pride, and self-respect.

Mourinho is very clear about this; now is the moment of breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats; he chooses to focus on the present rather than tomorrow.

Before the game started, Real Madrid’s locker room had already been notified that Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo would play injured, and even Di Maria, who got injured in the match against Sporting Gijon, would not miss this crucial match.

In terms of the center forward position, Real Madrid has two choices: one is for Adebayor, who performed poorly in the last match, to replace the injured Benzema.

Although the little Magic Beast performed poorly in the last match, Adebayor is known as the nemesis of Tottenham. The Togolese forward has scored 8 goals in 9 matches against Tottenham as a representative of the Gunners.

Such a precedent made Mourinho, after hesitating, still choose the first plan.

And gave up the second plan, which was to place Chen Zhong in the center forward position.

In the midfield, Khedira will partner with Alonso as double defensive midfielders, and because of Marcelo’s appearance and Ramos occupying the right flank, Alvaro is out of the starting lineup.

The Tottenham team that is playing against Real Madrid is a team that does not get stage fright. The media joked that whether playing in London or on the moon, Tottenham remains calm and composed, and Tottenham never abandons their style.

Their attacking tactics are diverse, they can make short passes or develop on the wings, and they look for Crouch, this giant center forward will be a threat to Real Madrid’s defense. Marca stated that how Cavaleiro defends against Crouch is a highlight of the match. Crouch is 2.01 meters tall, while Cavaleiro is only 1.83 meters tall, a whole head shorter than the former.

Van der Vaart and Modric will supply balls to Crouch, and what Real Madrid needs to do is cut off Tottenham’s ball supply channels.

Some media even predict that Chen Zhong might move back to the defensive midfielder; if there is such a midfield barrier, it might limit Tottenham’s performance, but, of course, many people scoff at such a statement.

Tottenham also has two wings, Lennon and Bell, who are both very fast players, so Real Madrid must be very alert to protect the gap behind the full-backs.

Ramos and Marcelo are both ready, although their current physical condition is not the best, of course, this might also be a smokescreen by Real Madrid.

Redknapp hopes to get a 0-0 result at the Bernabeu, interestingly, Mourinho also said that a 0-0 or 1-1 result is not bad.

However, such a score might not satisfy the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Real Madrid has entered the top 8, and the fans hope the team will declare to all of Europe that the fearsome nine-time champion is back. Under such circumstances, a passive draw strategy is unacceptable.

In fact, if you go to Madrid, you’ll see fanatical promotional slogans everywhere.

Last season’s double crown and the team stopping in the semi-finals made this season’s Real Madrid fans, who have Mourinho, raise the expectations infinitely.

Apart from the Triple Crown, they do not accept any other results.

Of course, some have tallied that all sorts of data favor Real Madrid this season.

On one hand, Real Madrid has maintained a perfect home record in the Champions League this season; they have won all four home matches, scoring a total of 11 goals without conceding any.

On the other hand, Real Madrid coach Mourinho also has a perfect record against Redknapp; during his Premier League coaching time, he defeated old Red’s team 5 times, once when Red was the Southampton coach and 4 times as the Portsmouth coach.

Since Tottenham’s 1-0 victory over Milan in mid-February, the team has not won again, only achieving 4 draws and 1 loss in the last 5 matches.

Spanish media reported that Mourinho, having navigated the Premier League for many years, sees little secrecy in Tottenham. Such errors as Inter fell into at San Siro against Bell will certainly not be repeated by Mourinho.

Mourinho also firmly stated that Tottenham has no chance of winning at the Bernabeu. ”Although I have great respect for their achievements in the Champions League this season, I do not think they can beat Real Madrid!” Real Madrid needs to be careful, Ramos, Pepe, Cavaleiro, Di Maria, and Cristiano Ronaldo are all near the suspension threshold. In this match, they must be extremely cautious, or they might miss more important matches later due to suspension.

Real Madrid has never given up future development for a particular match, they are looking for future advancement space for the final championship trophy.