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James Rodriguez has echoed the thoughts of other Real Madrid mates saying the Santiago Bernabeu must find its full voice next week when Los Blancos take on Juventus in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final.

The holders went down 2-1 in Turin but will be hopeful of overturning the deficit in front of a raucous home support.

Speaking to reporters after the game on Tuesday, the Colombian midfielder said he felt Juventus rode their luck at times – particularly when it came to him hitting the bar. But he said with the backing of the Madrid fans, the players believe they can make their second successive final.

“We have to have faith. We’ll be playing in front of our fans, at our stadium, and the Bernabéu has to get right behind us, it has to be at fever pitch, so that we can go out there to win. I think that we can make it through to the final.”

He added: “If you look at the moments in the game, I think that they had a little bit of luck, for example when I hit the crossbar. We have to put this behind us and focus on next Wednesday, which will be tough; they’re going to be defending in numbers. We’ll be on our ground and we have to go all out.”

 

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Real Madrid defender Marcelo has backed his fellow full-back Daniel Carvajal after the youngster gave away a penalty in the 2-1 loss to Juventus.

Los Blancos will need to be at their best next week if they are to reach their second consecutive Champions League final. Former Real forward Alvaro Morata gave the hosts an early lead before Cristiano Ronaldo leveled in the 27th minute.

But just before the hour mark, Carvajal tripped Carlos Tevez in the area and the Argentine picked himself up to dispatch the resulting spot kick.

Brazilian Marcelo told reporters afterwards that Carvajal felt bad for his error, but the team wins and loses together. “Carvajal is not the only one of us who feels bad, we all do because we lost. We have total faith in Dani because he’s a great player,” he commented.

Speaking about Real’s situation in the tournament, Marcelo continued: It was a bad result because we wanted to win, but it’s still wide open and we’ll do better in the second leg. Juventus are a great side, they wanted to have the ball. We didn’t have a best performance today, but we’ll have to wait for the second leg. Our fans always get behind us and support us.

“We know that the boss has confidence in our ability, we know what we’re capable of doing in each match; we weren’t the best team of all time before this game nor are we the worst after it.”

 

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Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has asked all Madridistas to get behind their team and create a unique atmosphere at the Santiago Bernabeu next week.

The Champions League holders must overturn a 2-1 deficit after the first leg in Turin against Juventus, but the central defender said he is confident the players can turn it around and reach their second consecutive final.

Asked for his thoughts by journalists after the game, Ramos stated: “It’s by no means a good result, but we have the bonus of playing the second leg at home to help us improve things that didn’t go well today. We’re one step from the final and we’re going to give it our all at the Bernabéu.”

He continued: “Taking our place in the Champions League final again is at stake, and where better than at our stadium and in front of our fans. They’re favourites looking at the result, but we have the bonus of playing at home. We ask the fans to make a unique effort to create the atmosphere of the previous match and to spur us on to make it to Berlin.”

Ramos then urged his team mates to switch their attention back to La Liga, with another important game at the weekend

“We have to manage to shift our focus and think about Saturday’s game, because the title is at stake. We have to get the three points to keep the pressure up.”

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Carlo Ancelotti is confident Real Madrid can turn around their 2-1 deficit against Juventus at the Santiago Bernabeu next week.

The holders lost the first leg of the Champions League semi-final first leg in Turin, with former Los Blancos forward Alvaro Morata opening the scoring and Carlo Tevez adding a second for the Old Lady. Cristiano Ronaldo’s all important away goal could well be crucial though.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Ancelotti stated: “We could have played better, throughout the game we tried to play efficiently and with quality. We wanted to control the match but were unlucky with the counterattack that made it 2-1. 1-1 would have been a good result.”

Asked about the return leg, the Italian commented: “This result does not fill us with joy but we are confident about turning things around in the Santiago Bernabéu. We looked good when we passed the ball around and carved out chances, but Juventus are dangerous on the break.”

Real were below their best on the night, and in particular Sergio Ramos, who played in midfield again, as well as Gareth Bale, who once again come in for fierce criticism.

But Ancelotti defended his players, saying: “We made more mistakes than usual today, not just Sergio. We had problems at the back because of the pressure Juve were putting on us high up the pitch. He did a good job, like he has in previous matches.

“I subbed Bale because he was tired and is still coming back from an injury. He is too important a player for us and when a player is tired there is more risk of him getting injured so I prefer to avoid any such problems.”

 

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Real Madrid will have to win in the second leg of the semi-finals of the Champions League after losing 2-1 at Turin. Los Blancos played a poor game and could have even suffered a bigger defeat.

Goals from Alvaro Morata and Carlos Tevez gave Juventus a hard-fought win, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal gives Real more chances of qualifying.

Los Merengues suffered a nightmare during the first minutes as Juve were very intense from the start and exerted a high pressure on their rival.

It only took the hosts eight minutes to take the lead as Morata converted from close range after Casillas had palmed Tevez’s effort straight into the path of the forward.

Ramos played a terrible game, losing many crucial balls, and one of his mistakes could have cost his side a second goal when he conceded possession once again, but Tevez’s low effort hit Sturaro.

Los Blancos levelled before the 30-minute mark thanks to a great play from Carvajal and James Rodriguez. The Spaniard sent the ball into the box towards the Colombian, who sent a superb cross into Ronaldo. The Portuguese headed home from close range.

Real started controlling possession at that point and had a stunning chance to make it 1-2. A brilliant collective played ended up with an Isco cross onto the head of James, but the Colombian smashed the crossbar when facing the empty goal.

Juve didn’t look threatening at the start of the second half, but they got lucky in a counter attack as Tevez fell inside the box and the referee indicated penalty kick. The Argentinian coolly converted from the spot.

Real started to play nervously after Juve’s goal and the hosts focussed on defending, introducing one defender more. The visitors didn’t have any clear chances to level and the Italians could have even made it 3-1, but Fernando Llorente was not precise in his two chances.

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Arrigo Sacchi believes Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez will be key for Juventus in their semi-final of the Champions League and thinks the Italians have what it takes to knock out the current holders.

Real Madrid head to Turin tonight for the first leg and will come up against a side that clinched the Italian title on Saturday – their third league success in a row.

Speaking to AS, Sacchi, a former sporting director at Real Madrid, thinks Los Blancos will be in for a tough encounter and must keep a close eye on veteran midfielder Pirlo, and forward Tevez.

“The Italian teams have never been easy for Madrid. If the players forget that, they could cause them some problems. Pirlo is a phenomenon who plays at his own pace. Another phenomenon is Tevez. He plays all over the field and for the team. He plays in a difficult space to defend against – in between the oppoisition defence and the midfield,” he commented.

And he went on to speak about Real’s weaknesses in not pressing together as a team, adding the loss of Luka Modric is a huge blow for them.

“Madrid are without Luka Modric, which is vital. They rely heavily on individual quality and don’t always press well. When they don’t have possession, they are not always good.”

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Juventus will go into tonight’s Champions League game with Real Madrid full of confidence and will provide Los Blancos with a stern test, according to boss Carlo Ancelotti.

The Italians secured the Seria A title at the weekend and will be buoyed by their success at the weekend, the manager said at his press conference ahead of the semi final first leg.

“I believe that the semi-finals will be close. It has been a few years since they reached this stage of the competition but they won the Italian league last Saturday and go into the game full of confidence. They are a very strong side, with a lot of experience and high-quality players,” he told reporters.

He added: “Juventus have always had a strong and competitive side. Winning here is not so easy. Having said that we want to reach the dream we have after winning La Décima and that means playing in the final again. The important thing is to try and play and well as possible showing all of our quality. We are having a good spell. The team is confident and all of the players are doing well. They are going to try and do everything as well as possible.”

Giving some team news ahead of the game, he provided updates on Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Chicharito, who are all expected to start up front.

On Bale, Ancelotti said: “He is perfect. He had a small injury and then we gave him time to recover. He played 30 minutes against Sevilla, and showed he was fresh and at 100%”.

And he added about Ronaldo: “He is doing well, he showed that on Saturday. Chicharito is also doing well”.

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Juventus vs Real Madrid match preview

Karim Benzema has not recovered on time to face Juventus in the first leg of the semi-finals of the Champions League and Chicharito Hernandez could have another chance to convince Florentino Perez he deserves to stay at Real Madrid this summer.

Carlo Ancelotti will miss both Luka Modric and Benzema, so he will very likely line-up Sergio Ramos again in midfield, an unexpected solution he used against Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, and that has proved to work.

In attack, Gareth Bale could return to the starting eleven after featuring for 30 minutes at Sevilla, although Ancelotti could choose to keep Chicharito and take advantage of the Mexican’s great form.

The Italian manager will face the club he managed for two seasons and Los Blancos players will also meet former team-mate Alvaro Morata, who now leads Juventus attack alongside Carlos Tevez.

Massimiliano Allegri has important losses. Paul Pogba will not feature due to a groin injury. Martin Caceres, Kwadwo Asamoah and Luca Marrone are also sidelined through injury.

Both team’s priority will be not conceding goals, but given the offensive power of their forward lines that seems highly unlikely. A draw wouldn’t be a bad result for Los Merengues, who will play the second leg home next week.

Possible line-ups:

Juventus: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Marchisio, Pirlo, Vidal; Pereyra; Morata, Tevez.

Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo; James, Kroos, Ramos, Isco; Bale, Ronaldo

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Real Madrid defender Pepe has said there are no favourites at this stage of the Champions League and Los Blancos will need to be at their best if they are to beat Juventus.

The La Liga giants take on the newly-crowned Seria A champions in Turin this evening in the first leg of their semi-final tie. The holders are seen by many as the favourites for the tie, but Pepe told journalists that Juventus have dangerous players themselves – including former Real forward Alvaro Morata.

“We know the game will be difficult. It’s difficult to play here, but we approach the game with great serenity. We know there are no favourites at this stage of the Champions League,” he said.

When asked about Juve’s most dangerous players, the 32-year-old picked out Morata and Carlos Tevez.

“Tevez? He’s a player with great quality, he never loses the ball. He’s a player who fights a lot and chases every ball, be battles on the field. We’re facing great players, not just Tevez, but also [Fernando] Llorente and Morata.

“As for Morata, he’s a guy who made his debut alongside me at Real, I have a lot of time for him and for his family. He’s a really good lad. I’m glad to face him in such an important match. I know he has a lot of affection for Real, but tomorrow when the whistle blows he’ll play for his current shirt, and I’ll play for mine. At that point, friendships are put to one side.”

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Andrea Pirlo says he has no regrets over turning down a move to Real Madrid nine years ago.

The 35-year-old playmaker will face Los Blancos this evening when Juventus host the Champions League holders in the first leg of the semi-final. If things had been different, he could have been lining up in the famous white shirt.

Pirlo was subject of a bid from Los Blancos in 2006, when he was playing for AC Milan. The Seria A giants had been embroiled in the match fixing scandal and were punished by having points docked from them.

Real, then under the management of Fabio Capello, tried to take advantage of the uncertainty in Italian football by making a bid for Pirlo.

Speaking to AS, the Italy international said: “Capello called me in 2006. Milan had problems with the Calciopoli scandal and the deal was nearly done. But then everything was sorted out and my contract was renewed.

“Madrid is Madrid. There’s nothing more to say. It’s the biggest team in the world. But regrets? No. That following season, in fact, we won the Champions League at AC Milan.”

He then went on to add that he’s looking forward to meeting his old boss Carlo Ancelotti again.

“He’s like a father to me. We spent many years together. He got me playing my best football in a different position, further back. He changed my role on the pitch. I lived indescribable times with him.”

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