Will James follow in the footsteps of Alvaro?
BARCELONA: Bayern Munich midfielder James Rodriguez wants to add his name to the list of Real Madrid players who have been jilted by the Spanish club and taken their revenge in the Champions League.
The Colombia midfielder faces the club that let him go out on loan last summer and what better way to show them what a mistake they made than to knock them out of their favourite competition?
Rodriguez won two Champions League medals with Madrid and a league title, but he fell out of favour with Zinedine Zidane last season and Bayern Munich have taken him on a two-year loan deal that they look set to make permanent.
If Rodriguez puts Madrid out he will be following in the footsteps of Fernando Morientes and Alvaro Morata who did the same when at Monaco and Juventus.
Spain centre-forward Morientes was a big favourite with teammates and fans at the Santiago Bernabeu but he was loaned to Monaco in the 200304 season. He faced Madrid in the quarter-finals and scored a late goal in the first leg at the Bernabeu to make the score 4-2 in Madrid’s favour.
The goal was generously applauded by home supporters still fond of Morientes – little did they know he would go on to knock them out.
He scored again in the second leg and with a 3-1 home win Monaco went through and Real Madrid, with Ronaldo and Raul up front, went out.
History repeated itself in the 2014-15 season with Morata. He had been sold to Juventus with a buy-back clause and the two teams met in the semi-final.
Morata scored in the first leg that ended 2-1 to Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Real Madrid in the second leg but Morata scored an equaliser on the night that sent the Italians through on aggregate.
Madrid often put what is called in Spain a fear clause, into loan deals in La Liga, to prevent players who have been loaned out to other clubs playing against them.
But that cannot happen in the Champions League and the Spanish club are now hoping Rodriguez does not make them pay for letting him go last summer. Real Madrid say the midfielder they signed in 2014 could end up costing the German club 42 million euros if they sign him permanently, plus 13 million euros in loan fees. But his form this season suggests he will be worth the money.
He has six goals and 12 assists in 34 games in all competitions and has won over new Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.
Real Madrid are hoping anything Rodriguez does, Cristiano Ronaldo can do better.
He has scored 26 goals in 22 matches against German opposition with nine of those goals coming in six games against Bayern Munich.