© EuroFootball.com
This week Madrid will become the center of world football - the Spanish capital will host both Champions League semi-finals. "Real" will host the reigning champion team from Munich "Bayern", while "Atletico" will play against London's "Chelsea" at their stadium.
The Madrid teams are looking forward to their first semi-final matches very positively. Both hope to take an important step towards the final this week.
Both Spanish teams are currently in good spirits. "Real" still remembers last Wednesday's victory in the King's Cup final, when Gareth Bale scored a fantastic goal against "Barcelona" in the final minutes of the second half, securing a victory for the Madrid team.
"The dream came true. We won the first of three possible trophies and will continue to fight for the rest," - said the footballer from Wales after the match.
Meanwhile, in the Spanish championship, "Atletico" leads "Real" by 4 points and is close to winning their first Spanish championship trophy since 1996.
When the teams are currently enjoying success, it is very likely that we will see a Madrid derby in the Champions League final in Lisbon in May.
Despite G.Bale showing that he can take over the leader role from the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, the club hopes that the Portuguese will be able to play in the first match against "Bayern".
Last year's best footballer missed the last four matches, but has already started training with the team.
This season C.Ronaldo has scored 14 goals in the Champions League. He is just one goal away from breaking the absolute tournament record which belongs to Lionel Messi (2011-2012) and Jose Altafini (1962-1963), who scored 14 goals each.
Bayern's executive director Karl-Heinz Rummenigge also hopes that C.Ronaldo will perform on the field.
"The Champions League semi-final is a wonderful event watched by the whole world. That's why the best players must be on the field," said one of Bayern's leaders.
Bayern defended their title of German champions with seven matches remaining in the league. After that, the team played one draw and suffered two defeats.
The loss of form can be explained by the fact that the team aims to repeat last year's achievements and win all the titles, so now all attention will be focused on the Champions League and the German Cup.
"The German championship is already over for us. Now the goal is the Champions League," said J.Guardiola.
