Salgado wary of Real’s semis opponent Atleti
dubai — Former Spain and Real Madrid legend Michel Salgado would’ve been pleased to see the Los Blancos avoid a rock-solid Juventus for now but will be a bit wary about going up against city rivals Atletico Madrid, in the semifinals of the Champions League.
The draw for the semifinals of the European competition was held at the Uefa Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday with former Liverpool legend Welshman Ian Rush doing the honours.
Rush picked defending European champions Real Madrid, first up from the lot and then out came Atletico Madrid, from the mini-shaped Champions League ball.
It threw up a Madrid derby, better known as the ‘El Derbi Madrileno’ in the La Liga, and the semifinal will be a repeat of the 2016 and 2014 final. The other semifinal pits 2015 runners-up Juventus against French Ligue 1 side AS Monaco. The first leg of the Madrid Derby will play out at Real Madrid’s fortress — the Santiago Bernabeu on May 2, with the return leg at Atletico’s Vicente Calderon Stadium on May 10. The other semifinal sees Monaco host Juventus at the Stade Louis II on May 3 followed by the return leg on May 9 at Juventus Stadium in Turin.
And Salgado, who won the Champions League in his debut season with Real Madrid in 19992000, said it was a pretty fearsome last four line-up.
“Juve (Juventus) looked too strong against Barcelona. So, for me, it is the one I want to avoid,” Salgado told reporters in Dubai on the eve of the Champions League draw. “But Atletico Madrid is a team that is special for us, because it is a derby. It is the team which we don’t want to play against in the Champions League and it is a difficult team to play against. We don’t like teams like that,” he added. Talking about the four teams, Salgado, who made 254 appearances for Real Madrid, said: “On the one side, we’ve got Juventus and Atletico Madrid, which the style doesn’t really suit us. And then Monaco, on paper, as they say, not the weakest but compared to Juventus and Atletico Madrid, yes. But when I watched the games of Monaco, I feel that they are really dangerous.”
Meanwhile, the 41-year-old, who is based in Dubai, said that Real Madrid should savour their victory against Bayern Munich.
“The only thing we can do right now is enjoy the win because it was a really tough game against Bayern Munich. For me, we played against one of the best teams in the world,” he said.
Atletico Madrid is a team that is special for us, because it is a derby Michel Salgado