Real have one foot in the semi-finals following their 3-0 triumph over the Cypriots in the first leg last week, but Mourinho says he will not make many changes to the team for Wednesday's return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

"Not many people think that APOEL can come here and win 4-0, but we have to respect our fans and the opponent," Mourinho said.

"There will be very few changes and we will play with a very strong team."

The Portuguese coach then revealed that Angel Di Maria will likely see more playing time on Wednesday after the Argentine made his first appearance in over a month as a late substitute in Saturday's 5-1 thrashing of Osasuna.

"He is an important player to the team and his thigh injury was hard to recover from," Mourinho said.

"He has been training well for the last 10 days, but training is one thing, playing is another.

"He showed some positive things against Osasuna and tomorrow he will not play the whole match, but surely more than 10 minutes."

Real defender Pepe said his team were avoiding looking too far ahead in the competition, despite seemingly being assured of a place in the last four.

"We have a long way to the final and we have to focus on our football and our opponents," Pep said.

"We'll see if we get to the final but we have a long way to go and we hope to get there."