The prospect of spoiling Zinedine Zidane’s UEFA Champions League coaching debut with Real Madrid might be formidable, but AS Roma midfielder Seydou Keita believes his side can upset the 10-time European champions in their round-of-16, first-leg clash.
“How we line up against them is down to the coach, but for me we have to believe in ourselves and go on the pitch convinced,” the Malian said ahead of today’s tie at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
Former Barcelona midfielder Keita knows his opponents well having won 11 matches with the Catalans in the 17 times he played against their archrivals.
“This game will be difficult, but not impossible,” added Keita of Real’s miserable record against Italian teams in the competition.
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti, brought back to the club following the sacking of Frenchman Rudi Garcia, was at the helm when the Italians prevailed over two legs in 2007-2008.
Roma beat Real 2-1 at home, a score they would repeat at the Santiago Bernabeu, before being humbled 3-0 by eventual winners Manchester United in the quarter-finals.
Real have made it to the semi-finals of the competition the past five seasons, claiming their historic 10th title, La Decima, in 2013-2014 when manager Zidane was assistant to head coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Efforts to go one step further last year were rebuffed when Juventus claimed a 2-1 win in Turin and booked their place in the final against Barcelona thanks to a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu, but there is little chance Zidane is entertaining another early exit and the former France and Juventus great travels to Rome with only one defeat from his six-game tenure so far, during which Real have scored 23 goals.
Despite it being his Champions League debut as a coach, Zidane’s past experience in the competition gives him the knowledge of what it takes to succeed in Europe’s premier club competition.
“When you’re a player, you dream of playing in the World Cup, but you can dream of the Champions League every year,” Zidane said. “We are prepared and we want to do something important in this competition.”
Although Welsh winger Gareth Bale remains sidelined with a calf strain, Real welcome back leftback Marcelo, who missed a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao at the weekend due to a a dislocated shoulder.
Karim Benzema admitted it would not all be plain sailing.
“The key to the tie is us. If we are on top form we will win,” the French striker said.
Despite Keita’s call for confidence, fans will be hoping Roma at least produce the kind of display that held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in the group stage earlier this season and not the one that led to a 7-1 humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich in Rome last year.
On the plus side, Roma claimed a fourth consecutive league win at the weekend for the first time since October last year.
Argentine midfielder Diego Perotti admits Bayern, Barcelona and Real are “all favorites for the title,” but it seems Keita’s words are already rubbing off.
“They’re not going to find it easy against us. We’ll be giving it our all and we have possibilities to cause an upset in this tie,” Perotti said.
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