Paranoid much? Real Madrid to train in the Etihad, not Old Trafford, before the big one next week

It could be mind games, the cabbage patch pitch at Old Trafford or another reason altogether, but Real Madrid will train at the Etihad Stadium ahead of the clash with Man United on Tuesday.

According to The Guardian, Real have confirmed today that their pre-match training session on the eve of Tuesday night’s Champions League last 16 encounter with Manchester United will be held in Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium and not in Old Trafford.

Uefa tournament regulations dictate that all teams must make part of their pre-match session open to the media and while this usually means that the away team will train in their opponents’ ground the evening before a game, sometimes a club will opt to train on their own ground before they depart, an option undertaken by both Manchester clubs in the Champions League this season.

Yesterday, it appeared as if Real would train in Spain before flying to England, but it has now been confirmed that Jose Mourinho has instead opted to hold a pre-match training session at the Etihad Stadium on Monday.

Speculation suggests that Mourinho fears that their training session will be spied upon, but it could be part of the mind games Mourinho likes to play from time to time; after all, this is a man who once hid in a laundry basket to manipulate a touchline ban and faced the Real Madrid crowd alone before a match earlier this season just so the fans could let rip at him.

There is also the possibility, meanwhile, that Mourinho wants his players to train on a decent pitch as Old Trafford has resembled a cabbage patch of late and could be further affected by the clash with Norwich this weekend.

Mourinho’s decision will likely have little or no bearing on a game that is very delicately poised after the first leg but it will give fans another reason to talk about a match that needs hardly needs hyping up as it is.