Mesut Ozil says Actual Madrid are the ‘huge favourites’ to go on and elevate this yr’s Champions League trophy after the facet’s dramatic penalty shootout victory over holders Manchester Metropolis.
Rodrygo struck 12 minutes into Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg – following on from a pulsating 3-3 draw on the Bernabeu – to place Madrid within the driving seat in Manchester.
Kevin De Bruyne, so usually Metropolis’s hero and talisman, capitalised on a weak clearance from Antonio Rudiger to take the match to extra-time, the place the 2 groups couldn’t be separated, that means the tie needed to be determined through a penalty shootout.
Pep Guardiola’s males, final yr’s treble winners, appeared heading in the right direction for the semi-finals after Luka Modric missed his penalty, however Andriy Lunin denied each Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic earlier than Rudiger transformed the decisive spot-kick to ship Madrid’s away followers into raptures.
After a pair of essential league video games with Barcelona and Actual Sociedad, Carlo Ancelotti’s males take to the sector for the primary leg of what guarantees to be an intriguing conflict with Bayern Munich on April 30.
On this yr’s different semi-final, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund will do battle after overturning first-leg deficits in opposition to Barcelona and Atletico Madrid respectively to progress within the competitors.
Requested what he made from Wednesday’s conflict on the Etihad, former Madrid star Ozil informed Marca: ‘It was a unbelievable combat. Metropolis confirmed why no one needs to play in opposition to them. They dominated the sport more often than not… if not all of it.
‘However Madrid was very clever, as all the time. They defended very effectively.
‘I shouted, “Hala Madrid!”, after Toni Rudiger’s penalty, so you may think about how I skilled it. It was very thrilling.
‘I feel that now Actual Madrid is the large favorite. I belief that they’ll win the Champions League.’
Ozil has been blown away by Jude Bellingham’s debut season in Madrid, although feels the England sensation has confirmed indicators of fatigue in current weeks.
‘His first half of the season was unimaginable and left everybody speechless,’ the ex-Arsenal midfielder stated.
‘The previous couple of weeks he has appeared a bit drained, but when he wins La Liga, the Champions League and Euro 2024 then he may very well be a candidate for the Ballon d’Or.
‘He’s nonetheless very younger, it’s unimaginable.’
Ozil believes Madrid centre-back Rudiger – his former team-mate with Germany – deserves huge credit score for the way in which he handled Erling Haaland in Manchester.
‘He’s having fun with a world-class season. I imply… which defender has performed a greater season in Europe than him? He was additionally the distinction within the video games in opposition to Manchester Metropolis,’ Ozil continued.
‘He didn’t play within the second leg final season from the start and so they misplaced 0-4.
‘On this week’s match on the Etihad, Haaland was all the time in search of Nacho to keep away from entering into any duel with Toni! That’s all you’ll want to know.
‘Haaland can be world-class, make no mistake. However Toni’s mentality is unimaginable.’
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