Mourinho expressed that Madrid are looking forward to their Champions League quarter-final against APOEL and insisted that they will not underestimate their opponents.
Mourinho maintained that there is a reason that the Cypriot club has made it to the last eight of the prestigious European tournament; hence, he claimed that he will not be too confident against the European underdogs.
Although Madrid taking on the GSP Stadium-based outfit is deemed as a mismatch on paper, Los Merengues will not take their competitors lightly.
Real’s head coach has admitted that even though his team is tipped as heavy favourites to qualify for the semi-finals, he will not take the fixture against APOEL frivolously.
APOEL’s entry introduction into the quarter-finals of the Champions League has come forward as an upset in European football. This is the first time in the history of the club that they have made it to the last 8 of the prestigious tournament.
Not only did the minnows come through a difficult group stage, they even managed to eliminate http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130 from the tournament in their pre-quarter final fixture.
On the other hand, the Spanish giants have enjoyed quite a successful campaign in Europe. They finished at the top of their table in the group stages, qualifying for the knock-out stage with a perfect record.
While talking to reporters, Mourinho was quoted as saying:
“We are the favourites, but football is football. I am sure that we are not going to have teams certain for the last four from the first leg.”
On the other hand, APOEL’s head coach, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ivan-Jovanovic-c17273, also conceded that his side will need to be at their best to get a good result against Madrid.
“It is a very difficult match and we must give a top performance against one of the best teams in the world,” he told reporters.
Real Madrid will travel away from home to lock horns with APOEL on Tuesday.
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