Real Madrid News
Manchester City defender says that Real Madrid are the ‘kings’ of the Champions League
Real Madrid take on Manchester City in the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League in just ten days. The first leg will be held at Etihad, and the second leg, a week later, at the Bernabeu.
In the aftermath of City’s loss to Liverpool yesterday, Oleksander Zinchenko talked to the press where he answered some questions about the clash against Real Madrid via Diario AS.
When asked to comment on the prospect of facing record Champions League winners, the fullback called them the ‘kings of the competition.’
“They are the kings of this competition. They have won many Champions Leagues in the past and they are obviously one of the best teams in the world, but before the match against Madrid we have many games to play.”
The Ukrainian international was then asked if the game against Los Blancos was going to be the most difficult challenge yet.
“At this stage of the season, I would say that each match is like a final. We are still fighting for two titles.”
Karim Benzema has been the favourite talking point of every football enthusiast this season. The Frenchman has been in unreal form and is undoubtedly Real Madrid’s best player.
“They have a lot of quality players, some of them are the best in the world. Right now Karim Benzema is one of the best strikers in the world. It’s incredible how he finds goals, so we’ll have to see how deal with it. Coach will tell us how to do it,” Zinchenko said about the Frenchman.
Finally, the fullback was asked if the Madrid based side’s ability to pull off comebacks was worrying.
“We’ll see, we’ll see what happens. For now we have the Brighton game.”
Real Madrid News
Mourinho does not want Real Madrid new signing to be affected by price tag, will continue slow integration
Real Madrid had an explosive summer transfer window with as many as six new big signings coming through to strengthen the first-team squad, while Sergio Martinez was also roped in with an eye on the future.
Up until Friday, things were going well for Jose Mourinho & co., but the 1-0 loss to Real Betis has put the team under the scanner once again.
Questions are being asked, in particular, of the club’s most explosive signing, Yan Diomande.
Mourinho not changing plans with Diomande
However, according to journalist Alvaro Esteban, Mourinho will continue with the plan of integrating Diomande slowly into the team.
The Real Madrid boss does not want the 19-year-old winger to be negatively affected by his massive price tag this summer and the pressure generated because of it.
After all, Los Blancos shelled out an enormous €125 million plus €15 million in add-ons to sign Diomande from RB Leipzig.
Should all the variables be met, he will become the most expensive signing in Real Madrid history. And, naturally, such a price tag brings with it a great deal of pressure.
As such, Mourinho wants to make sure that the Ivory Coast international is not affected in any way by the talk around his price tag and will continue to ease him into the team without rushing things.
Only a handful of minutes for Diomande
So far, Real Madrid have played four La Liga games this season and Diomande has not started even one of them.
Instead, Mourinho has opted to field Arda Guler on the right wing in three matches while Brahim Diaz started in the remaining one.
As for Diomande, he has come on as a substitute in each of the four games, but has only racked up a total of 83 minutes, without scoring or assisting a goal so far.
But, his limited minutes and slow integration are seemingly a part of Mourinho’s plans who is intent on not overexposing the teenage winger and put him under undue pressure due to the expectations that come with his price tag.
