Alvaro Arbeloa has revealed there is “more than one key” to Real Madrid’s success ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League play-off tie against Benfica.
Just three weeks ago, the two sides met on the final day of the league stage, with goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin scoring a dramatic 4-2 win for Portugal in the final seconds of stoppage time.
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The result dropped Real Madrid out of the top eight, while Benfica entered the play-offs on goal difference – and now their place in the last 16 is at stake when they meet again.
Arbeloa explained in his pre-match press conference ahead of the first leg that he would like to see “Benfica have more individual options and different players.
“But at the end of the day, the spirit at Benfica will be very similar to what we saw three weeks ago.
“They will be very competitive and they will make things difficult for us. We need to be ready for the high level we are going to face,” he insisted.
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As for whether Tuesday’s game provides Real with a chance to exact revenge on Mourinho’s side, Arbeloa commented: “We always think about winning. Our goal is not just to knock out Benfica. Our goal is to win the Champions League because that’s what this badge demands.”
“For us it’s not about revenge, it’s about progressing in the game and that’s why we’re here.
“It’s a new game and that’s the only thing we think about. Of course, we’ve analyzed the last game, but it’s a completely new game and we want to have a good performance and win, like we do every time we play.
The 43-year-old added: “To win games we need to play very good football and to do that we have to do a lot of things well in all phases of the game.
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“We need to be very focused for 90 minutes, understand what is needed in every moment, defend well, attack well and focus on set pieces. There is not just one key to tomorrow.
“We need to give a very complete performance for the full 90 minutes.”
Benfica’s match against Real Madrid will kick off at 20:00 GMT on Tuesday 17 February.