Madrid were never dead – Danilo not surprised by PSG slaying

Danilo insists anyone who wrote off Real Madrid before their comprehensive Champions League defeat of Paris Saint-Germain was foolish to do so.

The Brazilian full-back left the Santiago Bernabeu last July to sign for Manchester City and joined his former team-mates in the quarter-finals on Wednesday – a 2-1 home defeat to Basel for Pep Guardiola’s side somewhat academic after a resounding 4-0 triumph in the first leg.

Danilo featured as a substitute in Madrid’s 2016 Champions League triumph over Atletico Madrid and was part of Zinedine Zidane’s squad as they retained the trophy in Cardiff against Juventus last season.

Big-spending PSG were seen as a significant obstacle for a side off the pace in LaLiga this time around but goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Casemiro sealed a 2-1 win at Parc Des Princes on Tuesday, rounding off a 5-2 aggregate victory.

“Only those who didn’t know Real Madrid could think they were dead,” Danilo told reporters.

“Madrid have won the last two cups and those people said there were dead. Madrid have history, fans and you have to respect them.”

Nevertheless, the 26-year-old would have no qualms over runaway Premier League leaders City being paired with the 12-time European champions in Friday’s quarter-final draw.

“This is our goal, to fight with the big teams,” he added. “We are working day by day to get big things.

“It’s going be difficult and we are going to face big teams from now but we keep working to achieve big things.

“We can’t choose which one we play against, so we have to be ready and try to win.”