Manuel Pellegrini not Worried about Ronaldo Absence from Club

Manuel Pellegrini says that he is aware of the incredible strength in depth that Real Madrid possess within their ranks.

Hence, he is not concerned about the potential absence of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar was unavailable for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final meeting with Manchester City. He was out with a suspected hamstring injury, which makes him a huge doubt for the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu. After a 0-0 draw in the first leg, the onus is on City to try and score an away goal that will leave Madrid with a mountain to climb.

However, Madrid will feel more than confident about scoring at least two goals if they welcome back Cristiano Ronaldo to the starting line-up. With the 30-year-old, Madrid looked very poor in the final third of the pitch. World’s most expensive player, Gareth Bale, did not make much of an impact.

However, Pellegrini says that the presence of many high quality players like Bale, Benzema, Toni Kroos, and Luka Modric should not be forgotten just because Ronaldo is making all the headlines with his absence. It's a bit like putting a win down to having a heart bingo promo code, and ignoring all the other bits that contributed to the win! City are aiming to reach their first Champions League final after having just reached the semi-final stage for the first time as well.

Speaking to the Football Espana website, Pellegrini said Ronaldo has nothing to fear.

“Cristiano will always be a different player – he scores a lot of goals and has throughout his six years here.However, I don’t think Real are just Cristiano Ronaldo. We must work as a team defending and attacking. Not just against Ronaldo but against Real Madrid.Our motivation must be to reach a final which we've never done before against a great team in a beautiful stadium. It’s important tomorrow because it’s high pressure but we have the personality and the football to beat them,” said Pellegrini. City have suffered an exit from the Champions League at the hands of Madrid before.