Without a league match for Real Madrid at the weekend, the Madrid press is enjoying the time to build up to the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday between Los Blancos and Bayern Munich.
Yesterday the focus was on Pep Guardiola playing down his team’s chances of winning. Today, the limelight falls on Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian has never lost to Bayern Munich as a manager – winning four and drawing two in the six times his teams have come up against the Bavarians.
He will look to extend that record over the next couple of weeks, and to do so, AS says he will be switching back to his familiar 4-3-3 formation. With Cristiano Ronaldo expected to be ready to make the starting 11, Los Blancos will have the BBC trio as the attack again. Isco will drop to the bench according to the papers. Ancelotti played a 4-4-2 formation against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final.
AS also looks at the situation of players on a yellow card who could miss the second leg if they get booked at the Santiago Bernabeu. Real have three players one booking away from a suspension – Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Asier Illarramendi. Munich have one, top goalscorer Mandzukic.
In some early team news for the Bundesliga champions, Manuel Neuer looks set to win his fitness battle to start the game on Wednesday. He had picked up a knock against Borussia Dortmund but looks set to return to the side for his side’s crunch match.
