Essien upbeat of Madrids chances against United

Ex-Chelsea star Michael Essien has been named in the Real Madrid team to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

The Ghana international star is part of the 24-man squad for the second-leg of the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League.


Essien, who left his English side Chelsea to join Real Madrid on loan in the summer, was named by coach Jose Mourinho for the key match.


The first leg ended 1-1 at Santiago Bernabeu and Manchester United are seeking to maintain their momentum to be able to edge past Real Madrid.


But Mourinho has taken his best players to England seeking to halt the English giants.


After back-to-back wins over Barcelona in less than two weeks, the whites are fired up for this encounter.

This marks the second time that the whites are coming to Manchester in this year’s Champions league after meeting Manchester City in the group stage.


Essien has been instrumental in the Madrid team since his arrival on loan after he lost favour at Chelsea.


The Ghanaian was in action against Barcelona over the weekend and he looks set for action if called to duty by manager José Mourinho.


Below is the full squad for Real Madrid.


Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas, Adán, Diego López and Jesús.

Defenders: Ramos, Arbeloa, Marcelo, Albiol, Varane, Pepe, Coentrão and Carvalho.


Midfielders: Modric, Alonso, Khedira, Özil, Kaká, Callejón, Di María and Essien.


Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuaín and Morata.