Luka Modric celebrated qualifying for the semifinals of the Champions League after “an incredible night” and an exercise in suffering that he said they are used toand noted as “key” Carlo Ancelotti’s changes to eliminate Chelsea, current European champion.
“It’s an incredible night, once again a great game at the Bernabéu. A defeat that tastes very sweet. We suffered, but we didn’t give up until the end. We continue to believe because despite the 0-3 we didn’t play such a bad game. Chelsea scored everything he had and we continue to trust. The coach’s changes changed the game“, assured in Movistar +. “We are used to suffering. It happened to us several times in Champions League second legs. The important thing is that we have passed and it is difficult to describe the emotions of this match”, he added.
Modric was decisive giving the pass to Rodrygo with which Real Madrid reacted and sent the game to extra time. “It’s a tremendous pride to hear the public shouting my name. I appreciate the love they’ve given me from the first day I came here. The future? I don’t know (laughs). We’re going to go year after year.”
For his part, Nacho described the 2-3 as a “past” that shows what “Real Madrid is”, although he assured that they must “improve many things”. “Incredible one more night at the Bernabéu. The tie was very complicated for us and another spectacular reaction from the team. You get goosebumps every time you experience nights like this at the Bernabéu. We have many things to improve, but this is Real Madrid; They teach us to never give up. On the day of PSG, many people were waiting to kill us and today with the result against us too, ”he said on Movistar + after the match. “What Real Madrid is. Prepared to fight for everything in good and bad times. Even if we hadn’t passed, the team gave everything until the end”, he commented.
A Nacho who pondered the level of Croatian Luka Modric at 36 years old: “It’s amazing, an example for players and people in general. A player who is many years old, but is like the youngest on the team. Hopefully he will continue with us for many years, ”he declared.
Butragueño: “Hopefully Atlético can join us in the semi-finals”
Emilio Butragueño, director of institutional relations for Real Madrid, commented, after his team went through to the semi-finals, that “Hopefully” it is Atlético de Madrid that accompanies them in that round, for which they have to come back this Wednesday from 1-0 in the first leg against Manchester City. “Hopefully Atlético de Madrid can join us in the semifinals. It would be great for Spanish football”, he said on Movistar + after the match. “Congratulations to all of Real Madrid and the players, who, as always, in the most difficult moments have shown their pride and what that shirt and shield means to turn around a very adverse situation”, he declared. “We knew that we had a very dangerous team up front, European champions; but once again something happens in this stadium with that shirt, and the players are able to overcome any adversity. I would also like to thank the public because at the worst moment they pushed the players and that is very important for us. We have lived another magical night thanks to the public and the hearts of the players”, he analyzed.
In addition, Butragueño praised Carvajal, who played as a center back from the 88th minute due to Nacho Fernández’s injury. “It is an example of what Real Madrid is. A player who grew up with us and knows our values. In a decisive match he plays in a position where I don’t know if he has played there before and behaved like a lion; this is Real Madrid”, he valued.
Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid’s Italian coach, also thanked the fans at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium for the push given to the team to come back from Chelsea, and assured that their happiness is greater “the more they suffer”. “We won because we had energy in the final part to keep the game alive. The changes I made were looking for energy, there were forced changes from Nacho and Vinícius because they couldn’t continue. The team has suffered a lot and everyone has shown their faces”, defended at a press conference. “It was complicated, we didn’t deserve to be 0-2, we had a hard time from set pieces without our best man, Militao. We lacked the hunger to score in the first half, we had a psychological downturn, but the magic of this stadium helps a lot team to never give up. I am very happy to reach the semi-final with Real Madrid, suffering a lot, but the more you suffer, the happier I am“, he added.
Despite conceding three goals that turned the tie around, Ancelotti admitted that he did not see all lost and was grateful for the boost that the Madrid fans gave the team. “I never see anything lost at the Bernabéu because he helps us a lot with his push. He has helped Carvajal play very well as a central defender and the whole team has given him energy to reach the semifinals”, he assessed.
The key for the Italian coach came with the greater freshness of his players in extra time, at which time Chelsea accused his effort. “I have to evaluate the game calmly, I put in Rodrygo and Camavinga to have energy. Chelsea’s wear and tear in the pressure had been very great and this has given us an advantage in extra time as we have been fresher than them”.
Ancelotti too congratulated Villarreal after eliminating Bayern and reach the semifinals. “No one can say that we are going to win, today we have shown that we can compete until the last minute. I want to congratulate Villarreal who have struck a strong blow, I congratulate Unai Emery because few thought that Spanish football would have two teams in the semi-finals of the Champions. Two are already and the third may arrive tomorrow. Nobody knows.” Lastly, he congratulated the Brazilian Rodrygo for his decisive participation in the match, author of the goal that sent the match into extra time. “When Rodrygo enters the match he makes the difference, he has done it many times, he did it against PSG and today. He is an important player who needs time to be even better but I am very satisfied with him.”
For his part, the Brazilian striker for Real Madrid admitted that they did not expect to suffer so much to reach the semifinals and pointed out that the key to eliminating Chelsea was not giving up “at any time”. “What a night. We’ve suffered a bit, we didn’t want to suffer like that, but we’re very happy. Luka always tells me to attack the space that he’s going to give me the ball and that happened,” he assured Movistar describing a key goal that the match to extra time. Rodrygo acknowledged that they suffered much more than they could imagine but he was left with Real Madrid’s ability to react to sign a new comeback. “We suffered a lot. It was much more difficult than we expected. The key was to fight until the end, not give up at any time. We went through a bad moment, but we fought until the end when my goal came and we got up there,” he said.
Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois ruled out that the luck factor fell on the Madrid side in the tie. “We weren’t lucky because we won there 1-3. They were a better team today and had more opportunities, but we kept believing and in the end we had more opportunities.”
Rudiger: “Not many teams can come here and dominate them”
The German Antonio Rüdiger, defender of Chelsea, was proud of his team despite being eliminated at the Santiago Bernabéu, where he assured that “not many teams can come here and dominate them”. “The positive thing is that we haven’t given up, but in the calculation of the two games if you make the kind of mistakes we made, you get punished,” he told BT Sport. “The game plan was to find our No. 10s. With Ruben (Loftus-Cheek) and Mason (Mount) we were able to find space and we got the goal. We controlled the game and didn’t panic. I think we did pretty well. second half, we scored goals and did everything we could,” said the German defender. “It was a do-or-die game for us. Before the game, not many people believed we were going to lead 3-0. But then his individual class came to light through Modric and Benzema“.
Thomas Tuchel, his coach at Chelsea, was “disappointed” but at the same time “proud” of the performance given by his team, which lacked “luck”. “There are no regrets. It is a defeat that you can assume with pride, they are things of sport. I am disappointed and proud. We deserved to go to the next stage. Unfortunately, we were not lucky. In general, we had one, two, three big mistakes, they are things that happen, but today it was just bad luck, ”he said at a press conference after the match. “The players executed the plan. They were never afraid to play. The credit goes to the players because they had a lot of personality on and off the ball and showed their quality and the correct way of doing things; like the reaction we had a few days before against Southampton (0-6). Managing the number of matches we’ve had lately hasn’t been easy,” he continued.
A Tuchel who was very critical of the referee. First because of Marcos Alonso’s disallowed goal in the 63rd minute, which would have been 0-3, and later because of his attitude towards Italian Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid coach. “I haven’t seen the goal, but I’m very disappointed that the referee didn’t go to see it for himself. He should be the boss and not make decisions based on someone sitting in a chair who is alone in a room,” he commented. In addition, he slipped that his decision to annul Marcos Alonso’s goal was influenced by the rival and the environment: “When you play against Real Madrid, maybe you don’t expect everyone to have the courage to make decisions against them.”
“I am disappointed with the referee because he had a good time with Carlo. When I went to see him and say ‘thank you’ after the game, he was smiling and laughing, smiling and laughing… with the rival coach. I think that after the final whistle is a bad time to do that, after a team has given its heart in 126 minutes. When you go and see that… it’s a bad time to do it. I told him,” she stated. “I was also expecting more added minutes at the end, there was no net playing time in the second half of extra time… maybe that’s too much to ask. We weren’t lucky enough,” he concluded.
