Paris – AFP
On Tuesday, attention will turn to the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, the scene of the fiery summit between French Saint-Germain and Real Madrid in the opening first leg of the Champions League final price, while Manchester City, the runner-up, seeks to confirm its local dominance when it is a guest. on Sporting Portugal.
And the price of the final will be completed on Wednesday with the two matches of Italian Inter with Liverpool, and Austrian Salzburg with Bayern Munich, with the other four matches to be held next week. And Benfica, with Ajax Amsterdam, the Dutch, on Wednesday.
The prestigious continental competition is of great importance for Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, as the latter hopes to win its 14th title and enhance its record, while the Paris club is chasing after its first title, which was enhanced by the signing of Argentine star Lionel Messi in a free transfer deal last summer.
Mbappe in the front
It will be the second time that the two teams will meet in the final price after the 2017-2018 season, when Real won 3-1 in the first leg and 2-1 in the back and continued his career until he won the third title in a row and the 13th in its history led by his French coach Zinedine Zidane, before Saint Germain regained his consideration in The following season, but in the group stage when he won the first leg at home 3-0 and tied the second leg 2-2.
The match has attracted the attention of European football followers two months ago, especially since the draw, due to the future of Saint-Germain international star Kilian Mbappe, who is nominated to join the “White House”.
The survival of the 23-year-old has been in doubt since last summer, after he openly expressed his desire to move to Real Madrid, but he did not get his wish and remained in the team without extending his contract, which ends on June 30.
Real Madrid made an offer of 180 million euros in order to obtain his services during the summer, but the French club rejected it, clinging to its hope of persuading its striker to extend.
Mbappe touched on the confrontation, saying: The Paris club is “ready and owns the team that allows it to win,” adding: “The only thing that concerns me is the victory over Real Madrid in February (home) and March (again).”
He explained that he did not feel “any regret” for revealing last summer his desire to move to Real Madrid, and said: “I was frank. I say how I feel… But of course I’m happy to stay, to play alongside Messi and all the guys.”
amazing charisma
And his Argentine coach, Mauricio Pochettino, considered that the confrontation against Real Madrid will not have any “impact” on Mbappe’s decision to stay in his ranks or not.
He said in an interview with the Spanish radio “Cadena Ser” 4 days before the confrontation: “I do not think that a decision of this importance will be affected by a match or an exclusionary double confrontation,” explaining that “a smart, mature young man has amazing charisma with a tremendous ability to analyze, knows perfectly well.” What he wants to do with his future, he is surrounded by many people who advise him well and I am sure of that.”
Mbappe will be one of the most important weapons that Saint-Germain will rely on to rehabilitate his exit from the same role at the hands of Real Madrid in 2018, especially since the world champion scored in the same year the winning goal against his guest Rennes (1-0) Friday in the local league.
Saint-Germain also pinned hopes on Messi, the executioner of Real for many years during his time in Barcelona, where he faced Meringue 44 times, winning 19 of them and losing 14 to 11 draws, and scored 26 goals, including 15 at the “Santiago Bernabeu”.
The club also confirmed the readiness of its Brazilian star Neymar, after recovering from a sprain in his left ankle that kept him out of action since last November.
Saint-Germain will not spare the efforts of yesterday’s comrades of Real Argentine Angel Di Maria, Costa Rican Keylor Navas and Moroccan Achraf Hakimi, while the former captain of the Spanish club Sergio Ramos, who joined the Paris team last summer in a free transfer deal, is absent due to injury.
Real Madrid, who has great experience in the ancient continental competition, will not be up for grabs against the Parisian club, which in turn has enough weapons to beat the price of the final, most notably the veterans: Croatian Luka Modric, German Toni Kroos and Brazilian Casemiro.
Real Madrid, in turn, restores the services of its French international striker and top scorer, Karim Benzema, after recovering from an injury that kept him out of action for three weeks, to form a striking force alongside the promising Brazilians, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.
Saint-Germain will also be exposed to the Italian coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, who was the first coach hired by the Qatar Investment Fund when it acquired the Parisian club in 2011, where he supervised his technical management between January 2012 and June 2013 and led him to League title in his final year before moving to Madrid in his first term.
Real Madrid enters tomorrow’s match after a disappointing draw against its host Villarreal in the local league, which leads by 5 points, in a match that witnessed Welsh international Gareth Bale playing his first match with the club since August after suffering from various injuries.
Ancelotti touched on his participation by saying: “He suffered a serious injury. The most important thing is that today he got a chance and he showed that he is with us (mentally and physically) and that he is committed”, refusing to confirm whether he will involve him against Saint-Germain.
City to assert its domestic dominance
Manchester City seeks to confirm its local dominance when it is a guest of Sporting, who booked his ticket at the expense of German Borussia Dortmund, with a difference of two direct matches.
City tweets out of the league in the league, leading by nine points from its closest pursuers, Liverpool, and is moving steadily towards the fourth title in the last five years.
City has not lost in the league since October 30, when it fell to its host Crystal Palace 0-2.
City seems a strong candidate to overcome Sporting’s obstacle given its star-studded squad, led by the Portuguese Bernardo Silva, Robin Diach and Joao Cancelo, who defended the colors of rival Benfica, as well as Belgian Kevin De Bruyne, Algerian Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish and Rahim Sterling, who scored a hat-trick against Norwich City (4-) zero) Saturday.
The two teams met in the same round, but for the European League competition “European League” in the 2011-2012 season, Sporting won (1-0) in Lisbon and lost 2-3 in Manchester, to continue its career in the competition thanks to the rule of goals outside the rules, which was canceled as of the current season.