Dream before final

On the field, the city of Madrid will host the first two matches on April 22 and 23, as Atletico first hosts Chelsea at the Vicente Calderon Stadium one night before Madrid welcomes defending champion Bayern to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. “We are the teams who are playing the most attractive football right now,” former Bayern and Real Madrid great Paul Breitner said.

Nine-time champion Madrid and five-time winner Bayern have also been runner-up a further eight times, yet never met in the final.

Bayern is looking to become the first team in 24 years to repeat as Europe’s top club after cruising to the German league title. “We acknowledge that Bayern Munich, since the beginning of the season, the performance has been amazing,” Real Madrid director Emilio Butragueno said. “But we are Real Madrid and when we compete, we compete to win.”
Atletico will face the 2012 champions, who the Spanish club routed 4-1 in the UEFA Super Cup two years ago.

Madrid-Bayern is a repeat of the semifinals two years ago decided by a penalty shootout at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium after each team won 2-1 at home. Then, Cristiano Ronaldo was among three Madrid players who failed to  score from the spot.

The semifinal lineup includes three coaches who each have two Champions League titles with other clubs: Bayern’s Pep Guardiola won with Barcelona in 2009 and ‘11; Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti with Milan in 2003 and ‘07; Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho with FC Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in ‘10.

Mourinho could become the first to coach three different clubs to the European title. Guardiola and Ancelotti aim to become the fifth coach to guide two different clubs to the title. The odd man out, Atletico coach Diego Simeone, won a Europa League title with the club in 2012. Ancelotti also played for AC Milan when it was the last back-to-back champion, winning the European Cup in 1989 and ‘90.

The Italian coach is seeking to take Real Madrid to its first final in 12 years. Under Mourinho, it lost in the semifinals for the past three seasons.The return matches will be played on April 29 in Munich and the following night in London. The final is scheduled for May 24 at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon.

Ronaldo update
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has played down Cristiano Ronaldo’s injury problems and suggested the Portugal captain may recover in time for Wednesday’s King’s Cup final against Barcelona.

Top scorer in both La Liga and the Champions League this season, Ronaldo has sat out Real’s last two matches after developing knee and thigh muscle problems in his left leg.

Ancelotti confirmed the 29-year-old would not be available for Saturday’s La Liga game at home to Almeria but said the fact Real retained some hope he might feature against Barca showed the injuries were not serious. “I don’t know if he will be able to play on Wednesday,” Ancelotti told a post-training news conference. “If he is not at 100 percent he won’t play. If he has a chance of featuring in the Cup final that means it’s not a serious injury.”

Losing Ronaldo for an extended period would be a blow to Real’s hopes of claiming a rare treble of titles.

They are third in La Liga, three points behind leaders Atletico Madrid and two adrift of Barca, and play Bayern Munich in their Champions League semi-final, first leg on April 23.
Barca became the only Spanish team to win Europe’s elite club competition, La Liga and the King’s Cup in the same season under Pep Guardiola in 2008-09.

semifinal draw
First Leg:  Tuesday, April 22  (Atletico Madrid  vs. Chelsea); Wednesday, April 23 (Real Madrid  vs. Bayern Munich )
Second Leg Tuesday, April 29 (Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid); Wednesday, April 30 (Chelsea vs. Atletico Madrid)