Marcelo adopts Champions League focus

Real Madrid defender Marcelo says there is plenty of hard work to do if his side are to lift this season’s UEFA Champions League trophy.

Real face APOEL Nicosia in the second leg of their quarter-final on Wednesday, holding a three-goal advantage against the Cypriots.

But despite Real’s qualification in the last four of the competition almost assured, the Brazilian defender is not getting carried away.

“Every footballer wants to win the Champions League and I’m no different,” Marcelo said on Monday.

“There are still a lot of matches left and we have to keep on playing well if we are going to be able to win it.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do to be able to become champions.”

Marcelo insisted that he and his team-mates will respect APOEL in the second leg, despite the lopsided nature of the first-leg scoreline.

“I think that for APOEL to be in the quarter-finals they clearly can’t be a weak team,” he said.

“They beat Lyon to get here so we have a lot of respect for them. (I had) a lot of respect (when the draw was made). We need to keep cool heads (against APOEL).

“We are going to work hard to go through.”