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Cristiano Ronaldo to have late fitness test on Wednesday before Bayern tie Cristiano Ronaldo to have late fitness test on Wednesday before Bayern tie
(about 1 hour later)
Cristiano Ronaldo will have a late fitness test on Wednesday to assess whether he is fit to play against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. Cristiano Ronaldo will undergo a fitness test on Wednesday morning to decide if he can take part in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The Portuguese winger has not played any competitive football since Madrid's 3-0 quarter-final first-leg win over Borussia Dortmund on 2 April, coming off in the 80th minute of that match with an injury to his left knee. The Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti, said he was "confident" that the competition's top scorer would be available but insisted that they will not take any risks with his fitness. There is still a second leg to come and Madrid do have Gareth Bale, after all.
He then had to miss the return leg in Dortmund and last week's Copa del Rey final win due to a subsequent hamstring problem, but returned to full training this week. Ronaldo has missed the last four games, including the final of the Copa del Rey, through injury. The Portuguese had suffered a knee injury and then had hamstring problems. The club had been cautious about his prognosis, saying little publicly, and Ronaldo had also sought out a second opinion. He travelled with the team to the final, watched the game from the stands and joined his team-mates on the pitch afterwards. But he was walking slowly and very rigidly as he boarded the bus afterwards. He did, though, return to training this week.
The Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said: "Cristiano trained normally today, he's trained well in the last few days and tomorrow he's going to have more tests and then we'll make our decision. "Cristiano trained normally today and he had trained well for the previous few days," Ancelotti said. "Tomorrow we will have another test to be sure and then we will take a decision. He will play if everyone is sure that he can play without problems. We're confident, but we'll decide tomorrow. He has good sensations and we do too. Tomorrow we'll do a physical test, a speed test, and if there is a risk of a recurrence of [the injury] he won't play."
"If everyone is certain he can play without any problems at all, then of course he will play. I am confident he will play, but we're going to make the decision tomorrow." Pushed on the details of Ronaldo's recovery, which have been shrouded in a certain secrecy, Ancelotti responded: "Ronaldo had a consultation with doctors from the club, he started rehabilitation, and for three days now he has been training with the team. Before that, he trained on his own. These last two days he has trained normally. If there is a risk, he won't play. We have to think that this is a tie that will not be decided tomorrow. Maybe we'll can gain an advantage but the decisive game is next Tuesday."
The Italian coach hinted he might opt against starting Ronaldo at the Bernabéu, with next week's return game at the Allianz Arena in mind. "If there's any risk of a relapse he won't play. We have to remember that this tie is not going to be decided tomorrow. We may be able to gain an advantage from the home leg, but the really decisive game is next Tuesday in Munich." Ronaldo has provided four assists and scored 14 goals in eight Champions League appearances so far – he is a solitary goal off a new competition record, overtaking Leo Messi's total of 14. He also has 28 league goals. "Ronaldo gives us great power to create chances and score goals," said the midfielder Xabi Alonso. "He is a fundamental player. We played well in the cup [without him], but tomorrow he's going to be very important for us."
The midfielder Xabi Alonso added: "Cristiano will play if he's 100% fit, that is a decision he, the medical staff and the coach will take. If Ronaldo does return, Ancelotti will have to leave out one of those players that helped win the cup final, with Isco the man most likely to miss out despite a superb performance at the Mestalla. "Taking someone out of that team to give space to Cristiano is not easy," Ancelotti conceded. "Isco showed that he can be very important, not just in attack but also in defence. But we have to think that the presence of Cristiano also gives us more options on the bench. Everyone in the squad knows that every minute could be decisive."
"We need him to play because he's vital for the team. He gives us explosive play and an ability to create chances and score goals, he's a fundamental player. But if he doesn't play the team can still perform as we saw in the Copa del Rey final." "I hope Ronaldo can play," Pep Guardiola commented. "We play this game for the people, the people want to see the best players and there's no doubt that Ronaldo is one of the best. If another player plays, like Isco, it may change [their game]. Isco plays more to feet, Ronaldo more into space; Isco gives you more continuity in the play, Ronaldo more goals. They usually play 4-3-3 but in the cup final there was a 4-4-2.
If Ronaldo does not make it, Gareth Bale could start on the left side of attack should he shake off the flu in time. It was a position in which he shone during the 2-1 cup final win over Barcelona when he scored the decisive goal. "If you let them play they can do you a lot of damage. Alonso and [Luka] Modric use the ball well, so does [Sergio] Ramos from further back. The two full-backs carry the ball up the pitch. [Karim] Benzema keeps the moves going, he gives you continuity. And I don't know how they do it but they always have players who run, run, run. Ronaldo, [Ángel] Di María, Bale. They are a team that kills you with pace."
Bayern knocked Madrid out of the Champions League semi-finals on penalties two years ago, but Alonso rubbished suggestions that Real were underdogs. Guardiola added that he was proud of his team because despite winning everything last season, their desire remains intact and he insisted that their post-title win wobbles are now behind them. "Normally, when you win the title, your desire is a little bit lost, this zeal, this focus. That's why I am so proud of my team, because last year they won everything, absolutely everything, and [yet] they accepted my changes and they won the Bundesliga in March with seven games left, we're in the final of the cup and semi-finals of the Champions League. It's not easy: this is a big, big achievement for us. They have worked a lot. Even when we didn't play well we fought.
"I don't think Real Madrid are victims, you can never say that," he said. "Bayern are a great team and we are in great form at the moment and so I don't think either team are favourites. The role of favourite doesn't interest us anyway, it's something created by the media and has no effect on the players in the team." "We let in 13 goals in 27 games and after that seven goals in three games. After winning the league, our mentality was a little down, we played without any focus. We didn't have that something you need to compete but I was happy with the last game because we didn't play well but we recovered our spirit as a team, our mentality."
If Ronaldo is absent, Bale will once again be asked to take on even greater responsibility as he has done of late, having overcome a bout of flu. The Welshman has 20 goals this season and 16 assists. He scored the winner in the cup final in Ronaldo's absence. "It's normal for a player to have more confidence after a goal like the one he scored against Barcelona," Ancelotti said. "He has had a small problem but he's OK.
"At the start of the season he had a few [injury] problems but he has been fine since then. He has trained well, he has been good with everyone and he has scored a lot of goals. He is going to improve still for next year because he would have had more time training with us. He also has the advantage of not playing in the World Cup."
"Regardless of the goal, we already rated Gareth highly," Alonso added. "For his first season at a new club, a new country, a new league, his performances have been very good. We're all very happy with him."