“Real Madrid and Manchester City Set to Battle in Champions League Semifinals, while Inter and AC Milan Face off in Classic Derby”

Photos: EFE

The numbers that the Real Madrid, current champion of the biggest club tournament in the world, leave no doubt that it is the favorite team to defend the title. The madridistas will face a double match against Manchester City, in what will be their eleventh semifinal in 13 years, the last three in a row.

The team that has won 14 trophies, more than its three “partners” in the semifinals (Milan, 7; Inter 3 and Manchester City none, 10 in total), appears in the penultimate leg of the competition after eliminating Liverpool and Chelsea , and with the aim of surpassing the third representative of the Premier League.

Real Madrid’s figures in this competition help the optimism of its fans. His coach, the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, reaches his fourth semifinal on the white team’s bench in the four opportunities he has had. Furthermore, Ancelotti is three games away from surpassing his own record that he set last season: being the first coach to win the top continental tournament five times.

At the player level, Karim Benzema, current Ballon d’Or, knows what a Champions League semi-final is about. The French striker has been in all 11 games played by his team in the last 13 years, and has won the title 5 times, a fact that places him one behind Paco Gento (1933-2022), Real Madrid winger of the years sixty and seventy, the only one to win 6 European Cups.

Opposite Real Madrid is Manchester City, which, although it intends to win this competition for the first time, presents figures as the favorite team for the title. Beginning with his coach, the Spanish Pep Guardiola, who will be present in his tenth Champions League semifinal -he has won two continental titles, both with FC Barcelona-, a fact that makes him the coach with the most appearances in this round. final.

Behind the Spaniard is his rival in the semifinals, the Italian Ancelotti, who has reached this stage for the ninth time.

Derbies of the Madonna

The only certainty before the start of the semifinals is that a team from Milan will be in the final in Istanbul on June 10. The confrontation between AC Milan and Inter Milan has meant that the classic Derbies of the Madonna take the Champions League.

The Rossoneri are looking for their eighth continental win, while the Nerazzurri their fourth. Both clubs have reinvigorated Italian soccer after many years of their clubs being absent from the final stages.

The last final for an Italian was in 2015, when Juventus lost against FC Barcelona, ​​while Inter was the last Italian club to lift the orejona, in May 2010, over Bayern Munich, and with the Portuguese Jose Mourinho as coach.

In the case of the milanistas, they have spent more time without being at this stage of the competition; specifically, since 2007, when they won the final against Liverpool under the technical direction of Carlo Ancelotti.