Madrid - Arab Today
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti says he will not start CristianoRonaldo in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against BayernMunich on Wednesday if there is any risk of the World Player of the Year aggravating a hamstring injury.The Portuguese has missed Real's last four games due to the problem, but hasreturned to full training ahead of the clash with the European champions and isexpected to take his place in Ancelotti's starting line-up."Cristiano has trained normally today and has trained well in the past few days.Tomorrow we will have another test with him to be sure and then we will take adecision," Ancelotti told his pre-match press conference on Tuesday."He will play if everyone can be assured that he can play without any problem. Weare confident at the moment, but the decision will be taken tomorrow."If there is a risk of a recurrence of the injury he will not play because we need tothink that this is a tie of two games and will not be decided tomorrow. The decisive match in the tie will come next Tuesday."In Ronaldo's absence, Gareth Bale has come to the fore as the Welshman has struckthree times in the last four games, including a sensational solo run and finish towin the Copa del Rey for Real against Barcelona last week.Bale also overcame flu-like symptoms to train on Tuesday and Ancelotti believes heis enjoying his best run of form since Los Blancos paid a reported world record feeto bring him to Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur last year."He is very happy at the moment. Yesterday he had a small problem, but today he was fine and has the confidence and enthusiasm the whole team has at the moment."After scoring a goal like that against Barcelona in a final it is normal that he is fullof confidence."At the start of the season he had a problem with injuries but once he began to traineverything has gone well. He has played very well and scored a lot of goals, but hestill wants to improve for next season."Madrid will come up against a familiar foe on the Bayern bench as former Barcelonaboss Pep Guardiola will put his unbeaten record at the Santiago Bernabeu as acoach on the line on Wednesday.Comparisons have been drawn between Guardiola's teams at Barca and Bayern dueto their relentless success and ability to dominate possession of the ball.However, rather than sit back and hit Bayern on the counter-attack, Ancelotti wantsMadrid to impose their own style of play on the German champions."Barcelona and Bayern are different, but the philosophy Guardiola has imposed isthe same."We need to work hard, be compact in defence and have a control of the game toshow our quality. We are not planning on trying to stop the other team, but in playing our game and showing our qualities on the pitch."Ancelotti also confirmed that despite Brazilian international Marcelo's return to fullfitness, Fabio Coentrao will start at left-back after a fine display against Barcelonalast week. Source: AFP