At a glance
- Real Madrid legend Luis Figo has made a surprise confession that he’d like Atletico Madrid to win the Champions League.
- Diego Simeone’s men face Arsenal in the semi-finals next week.
- Los Blancos can’t meet their crosstown rivals in the decider, however, after losing in the last eight to Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid legend Luis Figo made a surprise confession that he’d like Atletico Madrid to win the Champions League, during the build-up to the Laureus Awards.
“I would like Atletico to be able to win the Champions League after so many years and a final that they lost,” Figo said from the Spanish capital, in quotes carried by AS.
“And because of the great friendship I have with Miguel Ángel [Gil Marín] and Enrique Cerezo. But football-wise, I think the winner will come out of the semi-final between Bayern [Munich] and PSG.”
Figo admires Real Madrid’s sentencer Olise
Bayern booked their spot in the last four after beating Los Blancos 4-3 in Munich last week and 6-4 on aggregate.
Michael Olise delivered the death blow to Alvaro Arbeloa‘s men. And asked about the Frenchman, Figo called him an “incredible player”.
“He made the difference and is having an incredible year. He will soon be one of the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or on an individual level, in which what the team does also counts. He’s a positive surprise,” the Portuguese said.
“It’ll be difficult for him to arrive at Real Madrid. He’s already in a very big team in Europe and it will be difficult for him to leave. It’s clear that he’s been one of Bayern’s very good bets in relation to what he cost.”
The Galactico doesn’t approve of Real Madrid’s
As the ex-number 7 did at the weekend, Figo once more criticised Madrid’s changing of managers midseason, which he says has brought “instability” to the Bernabeu.
“They always look for culprits, but I’m not in the dressing room. Being one of the best teams in the world, if you don’t win titles in two years, alarm bells go off. Madrid are like that, they are used to winning.
“But in football you can’t always win. It would be very monotonous and there are other big teams with many aspirations. In Madrid the noise is always greater, though. Players always try to win, it’s worse to lose. It doesn’t make sense for the locker room to create problems when you live much better when you win,” Figo offered.
With a second, consecutive trophyless season now appearing a reality, one of the biggest questions at Valdebebas is whether Arbeloa will stay or be replaced.
At a press conference to preview Tuesday’s tie with Alaves, the former full back stressed that he’s not worried about his future.
