Chelsea’s all-arounder Marcos Alonso’s road to the biggest stage wasn’t straightforward. It wasn’t a steady growth, but rather a long and winding road – on which he’d been picking up knowledge and experience around his native Spain, England and Italy. Now a firmly established 31-year-old Chelsea star faces a Champions League clash against Real Madrid, the club where his journey started.”I watched Real Madrid beat Paris. I knew from before the tie that Madrid was a very dangerous team. As superior as PSG were for much of the tie, you can never write Real Madrid off. Of course, it’s always difficult to face Los Blancos – especially in the Champions League. But we already showed last year what we are capable of. It’s a different year, another moment, but we’re facing two great teams, and we’ll try to give everything to reach the semi-finals.”Saturday, 21.45: (1.18) Spain (6.75) Albania (17.0)Alonso can’t separate Chelsea and Real Madrid in terms of quality. It’s definitely going to be an even couple of games, as he told AS.”I think there are no favourites. At this point, any team is complicated and it will be a beautiful and difficult tie for sure. The chances are 50-50. It’s always even at this stage of the competition. Last season, we won it because we were playing as a team. We were a team in every way. We defended very well, we were an uncomfortable team to play with, we defended all eleven and the small details made the difference.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Marcos Alonso (@marcosalonso28) Spain is one of the nations with the highest ambitions in any international tournament – and the upcoming World Cup in Qatar will be no different. At his age, Alonso is relishing what might be one of his last chances to achieve something with La Furia Roja.”Any footballer always gives everything to be with the national team. Now even more so with a World Cup so close. I’m always trying to give my best and improve, so I get called up by Spain. Playing in a World Cup is the dream of any footballer. When you’re little and start watching football, you want to be there. It is a goal to play the World Cup and hopefully, I can be there.”WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS – EUROPEThursday22:45: (2.15) Sweden (3.20) Czech R. (4.00)22:45: (1.25) Italy (6.25) North Macedonia (15.0)22:45: (2.90) Wales (2.85) Austria (2.80)22:45: (1.43) Portugal (4.70) Turkey (8.50)Russia – Poland AWARDEDScotland – Ukraine POSTPONED***odds are subject to change***
