Manchester City will play Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals. That means City could face incoming manager Pep Guardiola in the final, after his Bayern Munich side were drawn against Atletico Madrid in the other tie.
The first leg will take place in Manchester at Etihad Stadium on April 26, with the return leg in Spain’s capital on May 4. “It is a difficult draw,” said former Real Madrid boss Pellegrini.”It doesn’t matter which team we play. The options are the same.
I always prefer to finish at home but that is not the most important thing.” Pellegrini was manager at Real Madrid from 2009 to 2010, during which time Cristiano Ronaldo was bought from Manchester United for £80m, while Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso were also signed. Former Manchester United forward Ronaldo is the leading scorer in this season’s competition with 16 goals.
Ronaldo, 31, is also the competition’s all-time record goalscorer, with 93 in 125 appearances, and scored a hat-trick as Real overturned a 2-0 first leg deficit against Wolfsburg in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the Reds’ reward for Thursday’s dramatic victory over Borussia Dortmund is a trip to Spain for the first leg against Villareal on April 28, with the return at Anfield on May 5. In the other semifinal, Spanish side Sevilla, who are looking to win the competition for the third successive year, face Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk.
The final takes place in Basel, Switzerland, on May 18. Liverpool staged one of the most sensational comebacks Anfield has seen to overcome their German opponents in Thursday’s quarter-final second leg. They were twice left needing three goals to go through, with Dejan Lovren’s injury-time header from James Milner’s cross sealing a 5-4 aggregate victory on a night packed with drama and emotion.
