On Tuesday night, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti addressed the media post-match and talked about the difficulties Manchester City provided, and the controversy. The Italian also gave Antonio Rüdiger and the defensive setup high praise. The most successful manager in the European competition, Carlo Ancelotti managed on Tuesday night his ninth semifinal of the UEFA Champions League.
In the shortest time ever, the Italian manager was able to capture every title available. And with the 20th Copa Del Rey, he added another trophy to the Los Blancos trophy collection on Saturday. The manager’s position for the upcoming season is still up in the air, and the Italian post may be decided by this tie.
In anticipation of what was unquestionably the biggest game of the season, Santiago Bernabéu was crowded. With Los Blancos first attempt on goal, Real Madrid took the lead thanks to a thunderous shot from Vinícius Júnior that beat his fellow countryman Ederson. The Manchester team answered in the second half with another rocket by Kevin De Bruyne, who also defeated Thibaut Courtois, a fellow countryman.
Photo by (Victor Carretero/Real Madrid via Getty Images)
Next Wednesday, Guardiola’s team will host Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League.
Despite the outcome, Carlo Ancelotti was happy with the performance and enthusiastic about the next leg. The coach is certain that if Real Madrid maintain their level, there will be options, but he was most upset that the VAR missed the fact that the ball left the field during the action that resulted in City’s goal.
(Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
On the match:
“We could have won, we deserved to win it, we leave with a good feeling for the second leg because the game was well played.”
On Guardiola’s praise for Antonio Rüdiger matchup with Erling Haaland:
“We focused more on controlling their midfield and the work of Kroos, Valverde and Modric was very good.”
On Real Madrid’s match-plan:
“It’s normal for City to have possession but we shouldn’t go crazy because sooner or later the chance may come. We played very good football, we had chances and we’re happy. Hopefully we can repeat that in the second leg.”
On the lack of rest:
“I think that considering we played on Saturday we recovered very well. Now we have more time to recover well for Wednesday’s game.”
On the referee and the controversy of the ball being out of play.
“It was out, the technology said so, but it seems strange that they didn’t control it well. The referee wasn’t very attentive, he gave me a yellow card and I didn’t play. He wasn’t attentive. I think the players on the pitch deserved more cards.”
Doubts for the second leg on who plays between Eder Militao and Antonio Rüdiger inthe second leg.
“Rüdiger had a fantastic game, just like everyone else, and we will evaluate it just like we do with others. Defensively we did very well.”
On Benzema, Modric and Kroos:
“The veterans are the ones who manage the tempo of the game, they are very important.”
Featured image: (Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)