UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL DRAW

Bayern Munich play Atlético Madrid as City avoid Pep Guardiola

Pellegrini has admitted Manchester City have a difficult draw against Real Madrid in theChampions League semi-finals. City host Real on 26 April at the Etihad Stadium in the opening leg before playing the return game at the Bernabéu on 4 May.

Diego Simeone v Pep Guardiola. The defensive master faces the great creator

 

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While the other teams City could have played were Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich, managed by Pellegrini’s pending successor, Pep Guardiola, the Chilean said: “It is a difficult draw. It doesn’t matter which team we played. The options are the same. There was no preference for opponent.”

Pellegrini has experience of the semi-finals having taken Villarreal to the stage in 2006, when they were defeated by Arsenal. “There is no greater motivation,” the manager said. “Always the motivation to play the semi-final is unbelievable. I always prefer to finish at home but that is not the most important thing.”

Real are four points behind Barcelona in La Liga with six matches left and Pellegrini, who coached Real in the 2009-10 season, said: “Always to win the Champions League is important but at Real Madrid you must win a title. They are playing a semi-final. They still have options in the league.”

The main threat to City progressing to the Champions League final for the first time in their history will be the in-form Cristiano Ronaldo. The 31-year-old scored a hat-trick in Tuesday night’s 3-0 quarter-final second-leg victory over Wolfsburg, which took Real through 3-2 on aggregate. City reached the semi-finals for the first time with a 3-2 aggregate victory over Paris Saint-Germain.

City play Chelsea in Saturday’s late Premier League kick-off. “Vincent Kompany is not in the squad for tomorrow. I hope he will start on Tuesday against Newcastle,” Pellegrini said of the captain who is recovering from a knee injury. “We need to bring Vincent back when he is 100%. He has been very unlucky with injuries. The way we manage it is exactly the same

SHOCKING - FCB SENT PACKING OUT OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMIs'

Current Champion Barcelona suffered a shock Champions League exit as Antoine Griezmann's double sent Atletico Madrid into the semi-finals.

WEST HAM VS MANCHESTER UNITED FA REPLAY PREVIEW

Scene-setter: Anthony Martial scored a dramatic equaliser to conclude last month's tense 1-1 draw at Old Trafford and set up this intriguing replay, with the winners set to face Everton in the semi-final at Wembley. The Reds are in need of a big morale boost following Sunday’s 3-0 league defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, the day after West Ham were held 3-3 by Arsenal in another top-six clash.

Form guide: United and West Ham have already drawn twice in this campaign, both at Old Trafford, in the league and FA Cup. Van Gaal’s men were also held at Upton Park last season, 2-2, and encouragingly the Reds have not lost at the East London venue in five previous trips. The Hammers are sixth in the Barclays Premier League and manager Slaven Bilic still harbours hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. The Croatian’s team are without a win in four matches, however, following a run of entertaining score draws against Manchester City, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Arsenal.

Latest team news: Tim Fosu-Mensah impressed as a starter at right-back against Tottenham but the young Dutchman was unfortunately forced to exit on 68 minutes through injury, so it remains to be seen whether he is fit enough to play. Elsewhere, Wayne Rooney registered 61 minutes for the Under-21s on Monday night when Phil Jones played a full match at Old Trafford. West Ham are set to be without Diafra Sakho, Alex Song, Sam Byram, James Collins and Carl Jenkinson.

View from the dressing room: “I know how important the FA Cup is for our fans. We don’t have players in the dressing room who have won it for United. I was talking to Michael Carrick about it and he told me he wants to win and get to Wembley. We realise how important it is for us as players and for our fans to win a trophy.” – Ander Herrera

View from the opposition: “Our attention is on Manchester United, as we would love to give our fans a Wembley day out. Then we have the potential champions in Leicester next weekend. The team spirit is great and we just need to keep on going.” – Mark Noble

Danger man: Andy Carroll scored a sensational hat-trick against Arsenal at the weekend and the towering striker is determined to play his way into England’s Euro 2016 squad this summer. His manager, Bilic, has been unrelenting in his praise but has also challenged the striker to maintain full fitness, having suffered a series of injuries in recent seasons. “What more can I say about Andy Carroll?” the Hammers boss said. “If he goes to bed at ten, he should go to bed at nine-thirty now! He has to do something, but I am not a medical expert or voodoo – I’m just his manager speaking about that and I know he loves football. Will he start against Man United? I hope he’s going to be fit. I don’t think Sakho or Song will be fit for that game.”

Sub-plots: Wednesday’s match will be the last-ever FA Cup tie at Upton Park ahead of West Ham moving to the Olympic Stadium next season. Coincidentally, the Reds will also feature in the final Premier League game at the famous old ground on 10 May.

GOLDMYNE CELEBRATES HER 10TH ANNIVERSARY

We Felicitate GoldmyneTV http://www.goldmyne.tv on this day 1st April 2016.