Carlo Ancelotti to take revenge from the Coppa in the Copa del Rey

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid meet again in an exciting Copa del Rey semi-finals tie. Carlo Ancelotti will have the chance to get revenge on Diego Simeone, who defeated Los Blancos’ manager in the Italian Coppa a few years ago.

It was in 2000. At that time, Simeone was playing at Lazio and Ancelotti was in charge of Juventus, where Zinedine Zidane was the star. Both teams met in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Juventus earned a 3-2 victory in the first leg. However, that advantage seemed short, given the Bianconeri good performance in the match. Ancelotti’s men were leading 3-0 at half-time –one of the goals being scored by Zidane– but in the second they relaxed too much allowing Lazio to score twice. Simeone played all 90 minutes in that game.

The second leg match was thrilling. Lazio took the lead, but Juventus equalised before half-time. However, when the game was about to end, Simeone took centre stage as the man embitter Ancelotti.  The Argentinian made it 2-1 and gave Lazio the ticket for the semi-finals.

Lazio and Simeone, who ended up winning a double that season as they conquered the Scudetto and the Coppa titles, upset Ancelotti’s Juve again in the Serie A. Once again, a goal scored by the Argentinian gave the Romans a 0-1 victory in the 28th matchday of the league.

When Ancelotti arrived at Milan, he somehow took revenge for that, knocking Lazio out of the 2002 Coppa. However, Simeone was injured and didn’t feature in that tie. Thus, the Italian might seek for a complete vengeance in this Copa del Rey.

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Florentino Perez hints at Radamel Falcao deal

Florentino Perez has hinted Real Madrid could try and bring Monaco striker Radamel Falcao to the Santiago Bernabeu next summer.

The former Atletico de Madrid forward is considered one of the best strikers in the world, and moved to the newly promoted Ligue 1 side in the summer in a deal worth around 50 million euros. But according to reports, the Colombian is already unhappy in France and is eyeing a move back to Spain in the near future.

Los Blancos were linked with a move with Falcao but a transfer between Atletico and Real would have caused anger amongst the Colchoneros. Having sold Gonzalo Higuain to Napoli, Real were believed to be on the lookout for a replacement and were linked with Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney, and Robert Lewandowski as well as Falco.

Speaking on Punto Pelota on Monday night, Perez added fuel to the fire about one day seeing Falcao in a Real Madrid shirt. “He (Falcao) won’t come in January but in June, who knows?” Perez said.

He added: “Nothing is impossible and there is a lot of time between now and then. Falcao is a great player and I am aware that he wants to play for (Real) Madrid. I am aware of that, but it’s normal. They told me.”

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Atletico de Madrid vs Real Madrid Preview: One foot in the final. Now to finish the job.

Real Madrid visit Atletico de Madrid in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final tonight knowing that barring a disaster they will make it to their third final in four years.

Los Blancos hold a 3-0 lead from last week’s first leg in which the demolished Diego Simeone’s team. Atletico are in a bad run of form at the moment, going down 2-0 at Almeria at the weekend, and Carlo Ancelotti will be confident his men can finish off the job at the Vicente Calderon.
Real welcome back Cristiano Ronaldo into the fold for the capital derby. The 29-year-old, fresh from completing his birthday celebrations at the weekend, will go straight back into the side at a ground where he has scored on four previous occasions. The Portuguese star still has two games to sit out in La Liga though because of his red card against Athletic Bilbao, and will miss the fixtures against Getafe and Elche.
Raphael Varane will make his comeback from injury this evening, with Pepe or Sergio Ramos being rested. Both of those two are a yellow card away from being suspended for the final.
Iker Casillas will start in goal as Ancelotti rotates his keepers from the cup competitions, while we could see some playing time for Isco, who is thought to be unhappy with his bit-part role in the team in recent weeks.
On their part, Atletico have been making the right noises about the game, with various players and the manager saying never say never, and promising to go all out attack from the start. With injuries and eyes on greater targets such as La Liga and the Champions League, it may not be as explosive a derby as we’ve seen in recent years however.
Possible line-ups:
Atletico de Madrid: Courtois-Juanfran-Insua-Miranda-Godin-Diego Ribas-Gabi-Koke-Raul Garcia-Arda Turan-Adrian Lopez
Real Madrid: Casillas-Varane-Ramos-Arbeloa-Marcelo-Modric-Alonso-Ronaldo-Bale-Di Maria-Benzema

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