MADRID, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti said Tuesday he expected Cristiano to play in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final which sees his side take on reigning Champions Bayern Munich in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday night.
Ronaldo has struggled with a knee and hamstring problem since the first leg of the quarter-final, but Tuesday saw him complete his third complete training session to give the coach hope he will return.
"Cristiano trained as normal today, he has trained well these last days. We have another test with him tomorrow, but it's clear that he'll play if everyone is sure that he can play without any problems. We're confident that he'll play, but we'll make a decision tomorrow," said the coach, who was asked several times in the pre-game press conference about Real Madrid's star player.
"He has had an injury, he has had treatment. He has consulted the club doctors and undergone rehabilitation. Now he has been training for three days and has trained with the group for the last two days. He feels good, we feel positive and tomorrow he'll have a test," said Ancelotti, who would not say he was 100 convinced Ronaldo would start."
"If there is a risk of a recurrence he won't play. This is a tie that won't be decided tomorrow. We might gain an advantage in the home leg, but the decisive match is next Tuesday," he said.
Ancelotti confirmed that Gareth Bale would play after recovering from a dose of flu and said Real Madrid needed to be hard working and compact in defense in order to reach the final.