Spanish giants Real Madrid host bottom of the table Auxerre in the Group G clash on Wednesday night.
Madrid have secured the top position in their UEFA Champions League group table, with thirteen points from five matches. Runners up AC Milan have acquired second position with eight points and will play a fixture against Ajax tonight. The match will play
a part it determining Auxerre’s fate.
Securing the third spot in the table will reward the team with a consolation spot in the next season of the Europa League. Ajax Amsterdam lead by only one point to Auxerre’s three. A defeat at the hands of Mourinho’s men will send the French team crashing
out from all elite European competitions.
Jose Mourinho’s team will look to continue their fantastic form in the Champions League competition, as they have not succumbed to defeat so far in the European season. They managed to beat the Dutch team Ajax in their last encounter against their Group
G opponents. The fixture saw the Spanish triumph by four goals to nil. Both AC Milan and Real Madrid have acquired advantageous positions that will see them progress into the next knockout round of sixteen in the European elite competition.
This is the fourteenth time that the La Liga outfit has managed to secure a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Mourinho’s squad have all the reason to be confident ahead of this fixture, as their record against French teams is an admirable
one. They have seen defeat at the hands of the French in one game out of ten.
SkySports reports that the French face a formidable task as “Madrid having won their last 13 competitive matches in front of their own fans, scoring 44 goals in the process and conceding just seven.”
Benoit Pedretti, the Auxerre side’s skipper has stated his desire to win but recognises the tremendous task his team have to undertake by saying “It's a fact of football that if you look at the two teams there is no point of comparison. We will give it everything
we can, we will work hard, be united and try to score. We've come to get a good result.” He explained his strategy as maintaining maximum ball possession, a rock solid defence and attacking only when the team demonstrates that the defence has a “good base”.
He played the part of his squad’s captain well by describing his fellow team mates as “quality players” who can “cause Madrid danger”. He reinstated his belief that his “team isn’t bad at all.”
Real Madrid will have their assistant coach in the dugout, to take Jose Mourinho’s place. Aitor Karanka will replace the Portuguese, after he was declared by UEFA to have violated codes of conduct in Real Madrid’s last match against Ajax where the Spanish
won by four goals to nil.
Mourinho was alleged to have sent orders to two players, namely Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos to incur red cards after both players were booked with yellows. The message is thought to have been passed on through Spanish goal keeper and captain Iker Casillas,
who was seen conferring with the second choice goal keeper during the match. Alonso and Ramos both were subsequently booked for time wasting, which will see their disciplinary record slate wiped clean for the next progressive knockout round of sixteen.
The controversial incident saw managers and players throughout the football world contribute their input on the matter, with Arsene Wenger slamming Mourinho on his tactics.
The Auxerre coach is less critical of the Special One, and sympathises with his decision. "Mourinho is not the only coach who has acted like that”, said the coach, Jean Fernandez. He deemed the decision by UEFA to award Mourinho a touchline ban, as “a little
excessive.” Fernandez will be pleased to know his team will not face the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Angel Di Maria, Sami Khedira, Kaka, Fernando Gago and Sergio Canales as all are suffering from injuries. Casillas is reported not to feature in this match either.
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