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Carlo Ancelotti: "We're Confident Cristiano Will Play But We Will Make the Decision Tomorrow"

Ancelotti addressed the media alongside Xabi Alonso.

David Ramos

First of all, he answered questions about Cristiano Ronaldo's fitness.

If there's risk of a relapse, we will not play him because this tie will not be decided tomorrow. We might get some advantage but it will all be decided next Tuesday. We're confident he will play but we still have to make the decision tomorrow after another test.

His gameplan could be similar to the one he deployed against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey Final.

I am hopeful we will play with 11 men. This is not a joke. Against Barcelona, we played as a whole and all 11 players gave their best and helped the team. We were solid. And tomorrow I expect the same.

And of course, some asked him about Gareth Bale.

Bale is doing well and he's really happy. A goal like the one he scored against Barcelona gave him a lot of confidence. He had a small flu problem yesterday but he's ok now and ready to play against Bayern. He had some troubles at the start of the season because his accuracy wasn't that great, but his season has been great since then, and he's only going to improve.

And finally, he answered some questions about Bayern.

Their philosophy and gameplan are similar to Barcelona's. We have to be compact in defense. Bayern might be Real's black beast, but not mine because I have a good record against them! I'm not surprised about not being the underdogs because Bayern just won the Bundesliga a month ago.

Benzema might not be scoring a lot of goals, but Ancelotti is tremendously pleased with his performances.

I've never asked for goals. Benzema is doing really well this season, he's helping the team a lot both defensively and offensively and I'm really happy with him.

Khedira started training with the team last week, and Ancelotti have some words for him.

His recovery went really well and I'm pretty confident that he will be able to play some games before the end of the season.

Xabi Alonso spoke to the press as well, and he said he wanted the fans to be as great as when they faced Borussia at the Bernabéu last season.

Yes, that kind of greeting by the fans is always great to see. It encourages the team a lot when the bus enters the stadium through Concha Espina St. and you see that kind of atmosphere. And then we need to play well to encourage the fans as well.

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