Zinedine Zidane is hopeful both Cristiano
Ronaldo and Karim Benzema will be fit for Real Madrid’s Champions League
semi-final second leg at home to Manchester City, Sky
Sports reports.
Ronaldo missed the weekend’s La Liga win over
Rayo Vallecano with a thigh injury and did not feature in the goalless
semi-final first leg at the Etihad on Tuesday night, despite training the day
before.
Benzema, meanwhile, was withdrawn at
half-time against City, leaving his participation for the return leg at the
Bernabeu on May 4 in doubt.
“We hope that they can both be fit for the
second leg, that’s the idea,” said Real head coach Zidane. “But we can’t say
right now. We have to see. We have to take it day by day and see how they are.
“Cristiano felt something after that last
training session. That’s why he didn’t play. Karim, it was a little bit different.
But at the end of the day, little by little, he felt a little bit worse in
himself. We don’t want to gamble with his fitness. We know how important both
players are for us.”
Real had the better chances in a tight
contest, with Benzema’s replacement Jese heading against the bar in the second
half and Pepe firing a close-range shot at Joe Hart.
“I am happy with the game,” said Zidane. “It
was not easy but in the end, we defended really well. We had the ball more in
the second half and we had more chances after the break. It was a tough game
but I am happy with the result.”
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