Real face Atletico, again

All-Madrid showdown is a re-run of 2014 and 2016 finals

Nyon (Switzerland), April 21: Holders Real Madrid face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semifinals as the city rivals do battle once more and French surprise-package Monaco take on Juventus, following the draw on Friday.

The all-Madrid showdown is a rerun of the 2014 and 2016 finals in Europe’s top club competition, with a Cristiano Ronaldoinspired Real victorious on both occasions in tight, cagey affairs.

Real will host Atletico at the Santiago Bernabeu on May 2 and Monaco are home to Italian champions Juventus on May 3, with the second legs the following week.

Going into the draw at Uefa headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland all four teams were making the usual noises: there is nothing to choose between any of them, they said publicly.

Real Madrid, for whom Ronaldo hit a hat-trick as they saw off Bayern Munich in the quarters, are favourites with British bookmakers.

But Juventus were hugely impressive in beating Barcelona 3-0 in the first leg and then holding the Spanish champions to a 00 draw at the Camp Nou on Wednesday in a defensive masterclass.

Beaten Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has tipped Juventus to lift the trophy they last won in 1996 and they will be favourites against Monaco.

“Over the two legs they were better than us so they deserve to go through to the semi-finals. I think they can win the Champions League this season,” the Spanish international said after Buffon shut out Lionel Messi and Barcelona over 180 minutes of football.

French league leaders Monaco are the outsiders but they have already claimed victims in Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals and Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur before that. The French side — Buffon labelled them “feisty” — are full of attacking vim and have hit a staggering 141 goals in all competitions this season.

And in teenage striking sensation Kylian Mbappe, 18, allied with a rejuvenated Radamel Falcao, they have the firepower to trouble any defence.

The final is in Cardiff on June 3.

— AP Real Madrid’s director of institutional relations Emilio Butragueno (left) with Atletico de Madrid’s managing director Clemente Villaverde during the Champions League semi-final draw in Nyon on Friday.