Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro has sent a rallying cry to his teammates ahead of tomorrow’s pivotal Champions League clash with Borussia Monchengladbach.
Los Blancos have endured a nightmare Champions League campaign thus far. Despite doing the double over Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan, they find their hopes of progressing into the next round of the competition hanging by a thread.
The objective is clear – defeat Gladbach tomorrow. If Zinedine Zidane’s men are able to achieve that, they will be in the draw for the knockout stages of the competition, exactly where they strive, and quite frankly, need to be.
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Despite their shortfalls in Europe this term, Casemiro has suggested that they still have the spirit of champions within the squad. He’s quoted by Goal speaking ahead of the match:
“We know that tomorrow is the most important game of the year. We all know that tomorrow is a final. We have to face it as if it were a final.”
“We’ve been taught at this club that you don’t play finals, you win them. We’re not thinking about anything other than winning.”
It’s big talk from the Brazilian, but Real Madrid have shown little so far this term which suggests that they’ll be reaching any actual finals this season, let alone win them.
Let’s see if Zinedine Zidane’s side can lay down a marker tomorrow – or if they’ll drop into the Europa League, which could be an un-survivable embarrassment for the Frenchman.