Real Madrid may be the two-time defending champions in the UEFA Champions League, but their manager–Zinedine Zidane– has predicted that Bayern Munich could make them suffer in the first leg of their semi-final at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.
“We have to live up to our full potential. They’re not only a good team but also a great club. We know we might suffer a lot,” Zidane stated at his pre-match press conference in Munich.
“We know how strong Bayern are. We want to control the match so they can’t impose their game.”
Real have had the ‘tougher’ route to the last-four, having knocked out European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus back-to-back but the Bundesliga champions represent their stiffest test till date.
Bayern, meanwhile, have progressed to the semis after packing off the likes of Besiktas and Sevilla.
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Zidane has a near-full squad to chose from, with defender Nacho the sole doubt for the midweek clash in Germany.
“The team are in good shape, both mentally and physically,” Zidane stated as he continued, ”We’re in good form, we have to exploit it.”
“They’ve changed a lot under (Jupp) Heynckes. I have maximum respect for him, he’s achieved great things. It’s admirable,” Zidane enthused when over the topic of his counterpart doing a wondrous job since arriving mid-season to take over from Carlo Ancelotti.
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Bayern have already wrapped up the Bundesliga and as they are in the finals of the DFB-Pokal, remain on course for second treble under Heyneckes, while Los Blancos’ sole chances of silverware this season remain in the continental competition.
While Real did lift the FIFA Club World Cup earlier in the season and hence were crowned world champions, they haven’t had much success in domestic competition (La Liga and Copa del Rey).