Cristiano Ronaldo enters Tuesday’s Lyon vs Real Madrid match with a lot of confidence. Los Blancos have a 6-year Champions League Last 16 curse to break and Ronaldo feels that the time has come to do it...
Last season, Real Madrid came so close to putting an end to it. Like it is the case this year, they were paired with Olympique Lyon in the Round of 16. After losing the first leg 1-0 in France, Real Madrid were left with the task of winning at the Santiago Bernabeu at all cost.
In the return leg, an early goal by Cristiano Ronaldo put the home crowd on their feet. But a late equalizer from Olympique Lyon’s youngster Pjanic shattered Real Madrid’s ambitions.
Los Blancos had to find 2 more goals during the last 15 minutes of the match – something which they failed to achieve. Eventually, they crashed out from the UEFA Champions League at the Last 16 stage for the sixth year in a row.
Real Madrid were then left with one target in mind: to come back stronger the following year. So the moment to do so is very close now and play maker Cristiano Ronaldo is very much looking forward to it.
“God willing, we will defeat Olympique Lyonnais this year. It is going to be totally different this time around,” the Portuguese was quoted as saying on Real Madrid’s official club website.
“The coach [Jose Mourinho] is very experienced and he knows what to do to win. We will be aware of Lyon being a complicated opponent, but I'm sure that we'll win the Last 16 tie once and for all this year.
“Lyon are a difficult and physical opponent. We'll have to go in for the kill. They will kill us if we fail to do so.
“We must be ambitious to win. We want to reach the Wembley final. We may lose to Lyon, but we should regard ourselves us favourites because we have a great team.”
Real Madrid qualified as leaders of Group G to reach the Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League. Olympique Lyon, meanwhile, finished as runners-up behind Schalke 04 in Group B.
In the return leg, an early goal by Cristiano Ronaldo put the home crowd on their feet. But a late equalizer from Olympique Lyon’s youngster Pjanic shattered Real Madrid’s ambitions.
Los Blancos had to find 2 more goals during the last 15 minutes of the match – something which they failed to achieve. Eventually, they crashed out from the UEFA Champions League at the Last 16 stage for the sixth year in a row.
Real Madrid were then left with one target in mind: to come back stronger the following year. So the moment to do so is very close now and play maker Cristiano Ronaldo is very much looking forward to it.
“God willing, we will defeat Olympique Lyonnais this year. It is going to be totally different this time around,” the Portuguese was quoted as saying on Real Madrid’s official club website.
“The coach [Jose Mourinho] is very experienced and he knows what to do to win. We will be aware of Lyon being a complicated opponent, but I'm sure that we'll win the Last 16 tie once and for all this year.
“Lyon are a difficult and physical opponent. We'll have to go in for the kill. They will kill us if we fail to do so.
“We must be ambitious to win. We want to reach the Wembley final. We may lose to Lyon, but we should regard ourselves us favourites because we have a great team.”
Real Madrid qualified as leaders of Group G to reach the Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League. Olympique Lyon, meanwhile, finished as runners-up behind Schalke 04 in Group B.
