Football

'We have to exploit Juve's weaknesses'

Ahead of the Champions League final, which is less than a week away, Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo spoke about his side's chances of defeating Juventus and becoming the first team to retain the trophy since the inception of the current format in 1992/93 season.

"Every player in the [Madrid] dressing room wants to make history," Ronaldo told UEFA. "It would be a privilege to be the first team to win consecutive editions of the Champions League."

Ronaldo admitted that it would be a tough battle and likened it to their Champions League final clash with Atletico Madrid, but he stressed that everyone at the club believed in themselves.

"We are aware it will be an extremely difficult match but we are Madrid so we know we have a realistic shot at winning. This final will be similar to the previous ones [against Atletico Madrid], it's basically a coin flip.

"Both squads will attempt to take advantage of the opponent's mistakes; whoever plays a cleaner match should prevail, hopefully it's us.

"It will be an exciting match-up for both players and fans, we have high expectations."

The 32-year-old was full of praise for his opponents, but he added that every team has a weakness and Los Blancos would need to find Juventus'.

"[Juventus] are an excellent team, as they proved by winning both Serie A and Coppa Italia, and they have completed a fabulous campaign in Europe.

"They like using tight coverage, like Atletico. While Juventus certainly have a superb defence, there is always a weak spot, we need to find out how to attack it."

The Portuguese talisman also spoke about his coach, Zinedine Zidnae, and said how his admiration for the Frenchman had only grown with time.

"[Zidane] has done a terrific job, he is proving his status as a world-class coach. I used to admire him as a player and my admiration has done nothing but grow. He's a positive, hard-working and respectful person, everybody in the squad is really pleased with him.

“It's not easy to manage this sort of dressing room, because every player wants to play a lot of minutes, but he's been able to spread playing time among all of us."

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'We have to exploit Juve's weaknesses'

Ahead of the Champions League final, which is less than a week away, Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo spoke about his side's chances of defeating Juventus and becoming the first team to retain the trophy since the inception of the current format in 1992/93 season.

"Every player in the [Madrid] dressing room wants to make history," Ronaldo told UEFA. "It would be a privilege to be the first team to win consecutive editions of the Champions League."

Ronaldo admitted that it would be a tough battle and likened it to their Champions League final clash with Atletico Madrid, but he stressed that everyone at the club believed in themselves.

"We are aware it will be an extremely difficult match but we are Madrid so we know we have a realistic shot at winning. This final will be similar to the previous ones [against Atletico Madrid], it's basically a coin flip.

"Both squads will attempt to take advantage of the opponent's mistakes; whoever plays a cleaner match should prevail, hopefully it's us.

"It will be an exciting match-up for both players and fans, we have high expectations."

The 32-year-old was full of praise for his opponents, but he added that every team has a weakness and Los Blancos would need to find Juventus'.

"[Juventus] are an excellent team, as they proved by winning both Serie A and Coppa Italia, and they have completed a fabulous campaign in Europe.

"They like using tight coverage, like Atletico. While Juventus certainly have a superb defence, there is always a weak spot, we need to find out how to attack it."

The Portuguese talisman also spoke about his coach, Zinedine Zidnae, and said how his admiration for the Frenchman had only grown with time.

"[Zidane] has done a terrific job, he is proving his status as a world-class coach. I used to admire him as a player and my admiration has done nothing but grow. He's a positive, hard-working and respectful person, everybody in the squad is really pleased with him.

“It's not easy to manage this sort of dressing room, because every player wants to play a lot of minutes, but he's been able to spread playing time among all of us."

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