Real Madrid Confident Of Victory At Bernabeu

Real Madrid and Manchester City played out a drab 0-0 draw that was bereft of chances but they are confident of a victory at the Bernabeu

With the news that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to miss out on the first leg of the Champions League semifinal against Manchester City, much of the excitement of the night was lost. It was still a big night for the semifinal debutantes but their play on the pitch could not match the exuberance of their singing supporters.

Both teams were not quite content with a draw but they did little to show otherwise. City managed four shots with only one on target against a Madrid side that was missing its best player in Cristiano Ronaldo. Real tried to break down the City defense but tried to do so with shots from distance leading to 13 shots but only four on target.

The best chance of the match fell to defender Pepe, who was also booked on the night, as the ball fell to him from a corner right in front of Joe Hart. It was a point blank miss as the Portuguese defender did well to control the ball but shot it straight it Hart’s midriff. It was a golden opportunity for Los Blancos to come away with a precious away goal but alas it was not to be.

Gareth Bale spoke about their chances at home after the draw and said, as quoted by Sky Sports:

"“It was a little bit frustrating not to be able to score, but we got a clean sheet and we go back to the Bernabeu now very confident. Obviously we’d loved to have scored a goal, but it is not a bad result. We got a clean sheet and we go to the Bernabeu where we have a great record, where we score a lot of goals, very confident and, yes, we are looking forward to it.”"

With the draw at the Etihad, both teams will have reasons to be positive in the second leg. Real Madrid will look to their excellent home record this season where they have not lost since February 27th against Atletico Madrid. They are as confident as can be that they can score goals at home and should have Ronaldo back and ready to go.

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As for City, they can take heart in the fact that they shut out a potent Real Madrid attack that still had firepower in the form of Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale. They also had a few chances that were it not for a poor touch or a cynical tackle from a Real player would have been very threatening.

The Sky Blues can also go in to the match knowing they have no pressure on them to move on as few people would expect them to win in Spain. There is also the added factor of their goals counting for double because of the away goals rule. One goal against a suspect Real defense and the tie swings heavily in their favor.

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Either way, Real have cause to be confident but so does City and it should lead to an intriguing and hopefully exciting second leg at the Bernabeu.

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