The Champions League resumes its march today towards the Wembley final on June 1 with the first leg of the round of 16 in two games with a clear favorite in the playoffs. Real Madrid travels to Germany to face Leipzig and Manchester City, the current champion, flies to Denmark to play against Copenhagen, possibly the weakest rival of those left in the pot.
Madrid, which has just gained a considerable lead in the League with its victory against Girona, goes to Germany without its best player, Jude Bellingham, who is out for three weeks. He also has significant problems in defense, where he has recovered Nacho, but not Rüdiger, the player who, until his injury, had played the most minutes for the white team.
In the pre-match press conference, Toni Kroos spoke, but the German, whose contract ends on June 30, did not want to reveal whether he is about to renew, what the club wants and has Real Madrid fans in suspense, or he is hanging up his boots now. June. He also did not say if he will return to the German team to play in the Euro Cup.
Kroos, quite active on social networks but sparing in appearances in the press, showed his personality and assured that he is fine, but that he is the one who sets the times. His idea was to play until he was 32 years old and this January 4 he turned 34. He also separated his future from that of Luka Modric, who at 38 years old finds it difficult to continue.
Kroos also welcomed the massive whistles he received from the Spanish Super Cup crowd in Riadh. “I wasn’t surprised. They only confirm to me that what he had said was correct.” He always said that he should not play in that country because of its lack of respect for human rights.
Leipzig is fifth in the Bundesliga in a very irregular campaign. After three consecutive defeats in their championship, they ended their bad streak with a victory against Union Berlin, but last weekend they returned to their old ways by failing to draw (2-2) against Augsburg, a match that He could have won because he missed a penalty in added time.
The team from the state of Saxony lost its scorer, Timo Werner, in the winter market, but for the event it has recovered its Spanish star, the Catalan Dani Olmo, and the Dutchman Xavi Simons, who passed through La Masía. Right now he lives above all on the goals of his two forwards: Benjamin Sesko and Loïs Openda.
Bellingham’s absence is the biggest headache for Ancelotti. In his press conference and contrary to his custom, he did not want to reveal anything about the eleven he is preparing: “Without Bellingham we have won four out of four. I prefer to talk about those who are there than about those who are not there. Brahim may be an option. I also consider Joselu. Leipzig is a very powerful team in the air, but I am not as concerned about centimeters as their transitions. I take into account that they have scored 16 goals in transition. They have Olmo, who you know well. There are many quality players at Leipzig. Carvajal has played very well as a center back. Maybe I’ll keep it.” With that option Tchouaméni would reinforce the midfield.
Ancelotti also did not want to say whether Lunin will play tomorrow, as seems likely, or Kepa. The Italian coach’s first idea was to rotate them in the different competitions but in view of Lunin’s good performance, no one would be surprised if the Ukrainian played again today.
