Champions League football is back on Tuesday night with two matches taking place. One will be in Cyprus between APOEL Nicosia and Real Madrid.
APOEL are the surprise package of the competition. Their victory over French giants Olympique Lyon in the Last 16 was stunning and historic. Their reward for achieving that is a date with pre-tournament favourites Real Madrid. How strong is APOEL Nicosia’s tonic?
Jose Mourinho’s Blancos have only just found back their momentum. Their two consecutive 1-1 draws in La Liga came as an embarrassment as their 10-point lead at the top of the table got cut to 6 points. However, last weekend’s 5-1 demolition of Real Sociedad proves that Real Madrid still have the fire required to finish the season on a high.
The man under the spotlight, once again, will be Cristiano Ronaldo. After hitting 131 goals in 131 appearances, the Portuguese reaffirmed his position as one of the world’s hottest strikers.
Ronaldo enters the match against APOEL Nicosia as Real Madrid’s 10th all-time top scorer behind legends such as Emilio Butragueno, Hugo Sanchez, Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano and Raul Gonzalez.
With Cristiano Ronaldo in the line-up among an array of star names, can we expect a reality check for APOEL whereby Real Madrid would score a flurry of goals? What at all will happen between APOEL and Real Madrid on March 27? Former Real Madrid player Santillana gave his opinion in an exclusive interview with Goal.com:
“Madrid will have to be careful with APOEL. People say that they are just a club from Cyprus, but they have players from several different countries, and this makes them a stronger side.
“If they are in the quarter-finals, it is because they deserve this, although they are not one of the strongest sides out there.
“Madrid are favourites, even more so because it is a double-header tie. I hope they will not be in trouble if they can play their [own brand of] football. But in a match things, like conceding a goal or having a player sent off can always happen.”
In their last away game in the Champions League (against CSKA Moskva precisely), Real Madrid stumbled to a draw but eventually went through with a comfortable win on home soil. Real Madrid are naturally awesome on home soil in all competitions and it may be hard to imagine APOEL getting a result at the Bernabeu in the second leg.
That said, expect the underdogs from Cyprus to pour their heart out on Tuesday night. As daring as it probably sounds, APOEL Nicosia will go all out to stun Real Madrid. For the third time in their past four matches in all competitions, will Los Blancos be denied of a victory?
Jose Mourinho’s Blancos have only just found back their momentum. Their two consecutive 1-1 draws in La Liga came as an embarrassment as their 10-point lead at the top of the table got cut to 6 points. However, last weekend’s 5-1 demolition of Real Sociedad proves that Real Madrid still have the fire required to finish the season on a high.
The man under the spotlight, once again, will be Cristiano Ronaldo. After hitting 131 goals in 131 appearances, the Portuguese reaffirmed his position as one of the world’s hottest strikers.
Ronaldo enters the match against APOEL Nicosia as Real Madrid’s 10th all-time top scorer behind legends such as Emilio Butragueno, Hugo Sanchez, Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano and Raul Gonzalez.
With Cristiano Ronaldo in the line-up among an array of star names, can we expect a reality check for APOEL whereby Real Madrid would score a flurry of goals? What at all will happen between APOEL and Real Madrid on March 27? Former Real Madrid player Santillana gave his opinion in an exclusive interview with Goal.com:
“Madrid will have to be careful with APOEL. People say that they are just a club from Cyprus, but they have players from several different countries, and this makes them a stronger side.
“If they are in the quarter-finals, it is because they deserve this, although they are not one of the strongest sides out there.
“Madrid are favourites, even more so because it is a double-header tie. I hope they will not be in trouble if they can play their [own brand of] football. But in a match things, like conceding a goal or having a player sent off can always happen.”
In their last away game in the Champions League (against CSKA Moskva precisely), Real Madrid stumbled to a draw but eventually went through with a comfortable win on home soil. Real Madrid are naturally awesome on home soil in all competitions and it may be hard to imagine APOEL getting a result at the Bernabeu in the second leg.
That said, expect the underdogs from Cyprus to pour their heart out on Tuesday night. As daring as it probably sounds, APOEL Nicosia will go all out to stun Real Madrid. For the third time in their past four matches in all competitions, will Los Blancos be denied of a victory?
