The German international believes Real Madrid will not have a lot of problems against APOEL Nicosia with Xabi Alonso serving a one match ban.
After beating Real Sociedad 5-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid turn their attention to UEFA Champions League as they travel to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cyprus-c2881 for the quarter-final first leg fixture on March 27th.
Despite their best of preparations for the crunch European fixture, Jose Mourinho’s men will be without the services of Xabi Alonso, one of the most important assets of the Real Madrid dressing room.
Jose Mourinho’s favoured companion to partner http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sami-Khedira-c32325, admitted that Alonso’s absence is a loss but believes the Spanish giants will not have a lot of problem without the Spaniard.
The German international with Tunisian roots pointed towards the quality replacements Mourinho has at his disposal to make his argument.
"http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Xabi-Alonso-c37045 is very important for us, but our team has a lot of quality and good players in all areas.”
"We will miss him, this situation is new, but it is not a problem. We will overcome this problem and go out to win."
The former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684 in getting to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Khedira was wary of the threat the Cypriot side possess, who beat Olympique Lyon to get this far in the elite competition.
The 24-year-old expects that it will be a tough fixture when the two sides come on the field and believes Madrid will be able to book a place in the semi-finals for themselves at APOEL’s expense.
"We know APOEL are a good side," Khedira noted. "We respect them a lot, they reached the quarter finals in the competition.”
"They came out of their group and defeated http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130. They have a strong team and players with heart.”
"We respect them, but we are determined to go through."
The quarter-final fixture between APOEL Nicosia and Real Madrid kicks off at the GSP Stadium at 20 45 Central European Time, with the return leg scheduled for April 4, 2012.
Tags: