Our own @Barbara, being a Madrid fan as well as Chelsea, was kind enough to participate in this game's opposition views. Here's her take on tonight's match from the Madrid perspective: -First things first: You’re both a Chelsea and Madrid fan, but who will you be rooting for tonight? Ask me that question last year (2011-12 season) and I'd say Madrid without a doubt. I've been a Madrid fan for 15 years now and I love most the players we have in the squad. I remember in 2012 when I was rooting for a Chelsea x Madrid final in UCL because there would be win-win for me, but I must admit back then I would cheer harder for Madrid because La Decima is sort of an obsession we - Madrid fans have. But a lot of things happened surrounding RM and I felt disappointed and sad. Some of them involve Mourinho, Sergio Ramos and Casillas and how things were handled. That's when I started investing all my time on Chelsea - basically. That's why I looked for a Chelsea forum to be part of. I'm very invested in Chelsea and it was a natural thing. But I have my priorities straight: 1)Flamengo 2)Chelsea 3) Real Madrid 4) Internazionale -You finished last season in second place and made the semifinals of the CL and final of the cup, but it was still regarded as a disappointment by Madrid’s high standards. Do you expect better this time around and what are your hopes for this season? I think we did great on CL and I quite don't understand what happened in La Liga. We finished about 12 points behind Barça (or something) and at some point that difference reached the 16 mark if I'm not mistaken. But I'm very proud of how hard we fought against Dortmund in the second match. As Mourinho said back then we were punished by how poorly we played the first leg in Germany... but the boys did well. I don't know what to expect. Madrid is a mess politically, there are always too many interests involved, and many times they aren't the club's and some players are taking roles that don't belong to them. They think they're bigger than the club... Barcelona is going through a mini-crisis if you can call losing 7-0 in the aggregate in a CL semifinal and having a new manager for the second season in a row a crisis. I guess we may have a fair shot at the national league; as for CL I don't know... I hope we do well though. I hope some ego issues are solved and that those players understand that nothing is bigger than that shirt. -We Chelsea fans are, of course, very familiar with King Carlo. What do you think of the Italian manager? And did you want him at the Bernabeu this season? I like him, but there are some things I don't appreciate about his style, but he's the only one that could handle RM now. I think someone like him is what RM needs now. He has a father-ish thing about him and he isn't as outspoken about internal issues as Mourinho, so that will be good to the team. The players could use a change in the environment and he's the only name I could think of. To be honest I think whoever signed with Madrid this season has a taste for thrilling, demanding experiences because the environment is definitely not good in my opinion although Mourinho's exit alone will improve it to a certain extent. -Madrid have been spending big in the market as per usual. What did you make of the signings you’ve made so far? And would you like to see more before September 3rd? I really like Isco. Boy is great and he has a lot of potential. I'm very excited about what he can add to our AM. Not the most popular opinion around, but there were times in the last couple of seasons I wanted to punch Özil in the face. I think he's sort of sloppy sometimes and not really that much committed with improving because I can't find any other reasonable reason for him to have stopped his progress and even regressed somewhat. So I'm very excited about Isco. Carbajal is also welcomed. We needed another defender as I don't rate Sergio Ramos and Pepe is as unpredictable as swing parties, so it's nice to have another guy as a backup. Real Madrid doesn't need new players - although I think we needed Isco - we need that squad to overcome the rubbish Spanish media circus, the pressure, the egos and to really want to win. Thanks to Mourinho there's no obsession about Barça anymore, and now we could be focused on winning titles instead of having a personal competition with Barça - that of course will always be there, but not to the lengths it was until a couple of years ago. -Speaking of transfers, the Bale saga seems like it will drag on to the end of the window. Do you want Bale at Madrid and do you think he justifies the new world transfer record? I don't want him here for the amount of money they're asking. It's outrageous. Also, I don't see how much we need him. It seems like sometimes Florentino Peréz does those crazy transfers to keep the Galácticos status and to show everyone we're RM and we can buy whoever we want. I mean Bale is a great player - although very overrated because he owns Tottenham, the team is his and it gravitates around him and because they have so many deficiencies that he solved all by himself on several occasions he got hyped. That won't happen in RM and I'm curious (or doubtful) to see how much he's going to add in a squad that have whose big star is Cristiano Ronaldo and who has an amazing winger in Di María and a young promising talent as Isco. The spotlight won't be on him and I don't know how he'll react to that and how much of his football we'll get in the end. I wouldn't sign him for half the amount, but definitely not for 100M+ -This match is a cup final, after all, but only in a pre-season friendly. Do you think the result is important, or is it all just about getting fitness and form up? I think how we perform against a team as strong as Chelsea is important. There's no pressure on them us, there's not the rubbish stuff from Spanish media and there are no egos being fed in a friendly cup. There might be some extra motivation for players such as Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo (and maybe also Pepe) because of their issues with Mourinho, but at the end of the day as Mourinho would say, it gives no points because it's only a friendly. As a RM fan, I don't think it's as important for us to face a complete Chelsea as it is to Chelsea to face a complete RM, but the opposite is likely to happen. I think Chelsea is going through more changes - in the pitch - than we are. Carlo's work with us is more emotional than anything else as Mourinho left a legacy for us. This team is strong, powerful and can take anyone down... That's a team that despite spending a lot of money as usual - the foundation is the same. I only see Isco joining the first team promptly. I expect to see a completely different Chelsea under Mourinho whereas I don't expect the same from Carlo although of course some tactical changes will come. But they'll come because of his preferences while with Chelsea I feel they'll become because the club needs those chances to really challenge the titles they'll pursue. As far as the result goes if we win, great, if we lose, it's not that bad (and a part of me is happy either way because Chelsea is winning ). I'm happy Carlo isn't changing the whole team for the second half (he didn't in the past two matches) and he might bring our best (or close to our best) for the first half. I'm excited to watch the match. It's too bad Xabi and Varane are injured. They're two of our best players and I think they could be quite needed against Chelsea's attacking force - even if Mourinho won't use their best at once, but will split it in two the halves. -All the headlines are inevitably about Jose facing his old where he did not have the smoothest of exists. What is your opinion on the Portuguese’s time at Madrid in general, and his departure to join Chelsea in particular? As a Mourinho fan I just wanted him out of Madrid as soon as possible. I wanted it one year ago and I think that last season in Madrid hurt him a lot. They didn't respect him. They knew what they were getting when they brought him. He's a package - like everyone else - they know how straight forward he is about internal issues and how he rates himself and his work. I think he saved us. I think many RM fans and people working in club as well as some of the players didn't value his work there. We were Barça's little bitches (forgive my French) for a while. We've had an embarrassing streak of exists CL on round of 16 for 6 seasons! We were lost, ashamed, unresponsive and he came and made us a force to be reckoned with again. It was very positive for RM, but I feel like it brought most of José current grey hair. He isn't by no means a saint, but you don't treat the guy that rescued you from humiliation and stagnation like that. You show respect and thankfulness and we failed on both. Joining Chelsea was the best thing for him and the best thing for the club, I'm happy for both of them. -CR is obviously the main man, but who else do you think will be a threat to us tonight? Isco and Di María. Benzema could also take advantage of being assisted by those guys. Carlo seems to be favoring possession more than Mourinho did and the team seems less likely to counter-attack and it may help Chelsea because some of their defenders and DM are slow and it suits RM to play against slow defenses. But Carlo slowed down the team a bit, not much already because there hasn't been enough time and I don't think that's his goal. Chelsea's advantage is Mourinho. He knows that team better than anyone and he remembers quite well what Dortmund made to dominate us completely in UCL semifinal last season. But we should be very careful with Cristiano and Isco mainly. And who knows which Özil will come to play. When he plays his potential he's like Mata and can decide a match for us easily. -If you can have one Chelsea player at Madrid, who would it be and why? Can't the question be otherwise? I'd love Cris with us But as I'm answering this as a RM: Eden Hazard without a doubt because he's CFC best player, he's the guy who's going to conquer the world in a few years, and he's perfect for RM football even if we have di María and Ronaldo and now Isco. Imagine if you have di Maria in the right, Cristiano in the left and Hazard in the center? I just came undone by only thinking about the potential of this AM. -Finally, you come into this game as favorites, but Chelsea have a very good squad themselves. What kind of game are you anticipating? And what score line do you predict? I'm almost excited about this match as I am about UCL knockouts!!! Maybe it's because we haven't played each other in a very long while and because I think Chelsea, like ourselves is an exciting team. I'm not sure we're the favorites if both teams are complete. What will give us the edge is the fact that Carlo will probably start with at least 8 of our best players - if not more whereas I see Mourinho starting with 6 at most. The score? Do you want me to be banned from the forum? A prediction is a prediction - it doesn't represent a wish - so I'd say 3-2 Chelsea. Hazard, de Bruyne, Terry, Cristiano Ronaldo twice. Click Here To View Article.
