Two of the best attacking teams in Europe face off in the Champions League semifinals this week, with Manchester City바카라s record-seeking Erling Haaland going against Real Madrid바카라s red-hot trio of Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo and Karim Benzema.
Tuesday바카라s first leg at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium will be a rematch of last year바카라s semifinal, when Madrid got the better of a City team that didn바카라t have Haaland. City fell short of European success yet again, while Madrid went on to win a record-extending 14th title.
The addition of Haaland could be the difference-maker for Pep Guardiola바카라s team. The Norwegian has 12 of City바카라s 26 goals in the league this season. He is five short of Cristiano Ronaldo바카라s single-season record of 17 for Madrid in 2013-14.
바카라If you have a player like Haaland, you have to take advantage,바카라 Guardiola said Monday. 바카라We will play for him. When we didn바카라t have him we had to play differently. Now we have to take advantage of having a player like him.바카라
Haaland added a new dimension to a City attack that played most of last season without a striker. Instead of focusing on always dominating possession, Guardiola has been happy to use Haaland as a weapon on the counterattack at times. The striker has an English Premier League-record 35 goals this season, and 51 across all competitions.
바카라Haaland is very dangerous, we know it,바카라 Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. 바카라But it바카라s not only him. City has a complete team that plays very well. We will try to stop a team that seems unstoppable, but we will have our chances and we can compete.바카라
Madrid will stick to the formula that has worked well in recent years, with Vinícius, Benzema and Rodrygo taking turns to lead an attack that scored 25 times in the Champions League this season 바카라 15 of them coming from the trio. They have eight of the team바카라s 10 goals in the knockout stage alone.
Last season, Vinícius, Benzema and Rodrygo combined for all six of Madrid바카라s goals as it advanced past City 6-5 on aggregate in the semifinals. Rodrygo scored the two late goals that took the second leg to extra time at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Rodrygo is coming off another two-goal performance against Osasuna that won Madrid the Copa del Rey final on Saturday. Vinícius had an assist. In the previous Spanish league round, Benzema had a hat trick in a 4-2 win against Almeria.
With the Copa title secured and La Liga out of reach, Madrid can fully focus on the matchup against City.
City enters the semifinals still in the middle of a tight title race in England. Guardiola had to play some of his top players 바카라 including Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne 바카라 for the full 90 minutes on Saturday in a 2-1 win over Leeds.
Madrid eliminated two other English clubs in the Champions League 바카라 Liverpool in the round of 16 and Chelsea in the quarterfinals. City advanced past Leipzig in the last 16 and Bayern Munich in the last eight.
Madrid is making its 11th semifinal appearance in 13 seasons and is trying to win its sixth title in 10 seasons.
City played in its first Champions League final two seasons ago, losing to Chelsea.
바카라We were prepared last year, too. We are the same manager, mainly the same players but completely different games. The difference is the second leg is at home,바카라 Guardiola said. 바카라The way we are playing is really good. We are not here for revenge, just another opportunity. One day we will win it. We come here this season to do it.바카라
