Tuesday, 26 April 2016

Ronaldo's importance, Sergio's struggles & Madrid's scary record against English teams

goal.com

The Portuguese has been the outstanding player in this season's Champions League, while Manchester City will need more out of their own star man to progress to the final.
Manchester City will need to do something no English side has done in seven years to progress to the Champions League final for the first time in their history.
Their opponents in the semi-final, Real Madrid, have not been knocked out of the competition by a Premier League team since 2009, when Liverpool put them to the sword in the last 16.
Furthermore, Madrid are unbeaten in eight games against English teams in the Champions League, winning six of those contests.
City can take heart, at least, from the fact they have improved significantly in the last two rounds to make their semi-final debut.
Having kept just one clean sheet in 17 home games in the competition before this season's knockout round, Manuel Pellegrini's men have shut out Dynamo Kiev and Paris Saint-Germain at the Etihad Stadium.
They have also discovered a clinical streak, with six of their last nine shots on target hitting the back of the net.
City have found it difficult against Spanish opposition, however, keeping just one clean sheet in their last 10 games in the Champions League against sides from La Liga.
They face the challenge of keeping out Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday. The Portuguese has exactly twice as many goals (16) and twice as many shots (81) as any other player in this season's competition.
Ronaldo has scored or assisted 77 per cent of all of Real Madrid's goals in the Champions League in 2015-16 and is one goal away from matching his own 17-goal record-breaking campaign.
Karim Benzema is on his longest scoring drought - three games - in the Champions League since 2013, but has scored in his last two meetings with City.
Sergio Aguero has also failed to score in three games - his worst run in over four years - and Pellegrini may be concerned by the fact he has not had a shot on target in 342 minutes.

No comments:

Post a Comment