MADRID, 12 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti, was “happy for the advantage” that his team achieved with the victory (2-0) in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against Chelsea on Wednesday, but asked to “manage it good” and “replay this match” at Stamford Bridge.
“We played a complete game, we suffered at the beginning. The objective was to take advantage and we took it, but we have to suffer, Chelsea is a very good team. We have to fight for another 90 minutes”, analyzed the Italian coach at the conference press after the continental duel at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The coach acknowledged that they could have pushed “a little more” during the half hour in which the Londoners played with ten players due to the expulsion of Ben Chilwell. “We put a lot of energy, but in the end I lacked a bit of that energy and lucidity. But we have to be satisfied and think that there are another 90 minutes. To repeat this game at Stamford Bridge”, he reiterated.
“I’m not exhausted, I’m fine, with energy, I liked the team a lot. Of course you have to suffer, it’s not easy. I’m very happy, but we have to be calm and calm, because there are another 90 minutes. I’m happy to have advantage, but you have to manage it well”, warned Ancelotti about the two-goal income with which they will travel to London next Tuesday.
The coach repeated the same eleven with which he overwhelmed FC Barcelona (0-4) in the Cup semifinals, a scheme with Toni Kroos as a pivot and Rodrygo Goes as a right winger. “With this eleven I look for the best for the team. Kroos as a pivot helps a lot at the start and to manage possession, you can suffer defensively, but if there is a collective commitment, you don’t suffer. His position depends on the work of Vinicius and Rodrygo It has gone well,” he explained.
Although Ancelotti specifically highlighted Fede Valverde’s game, “the best on the field”, always “very attentive to his position”. “He has handled the defensive aspect very well. He has been spectacular in the recovery”, he praised. “Carvajal does not fail in important games. The pressure up front has been largely due to him. In these types of games he always delivers,” he added about the side.
“We’re fine behind, Camavinga is serving as a left back,” applauded Ancelotti, who also praised a “determinant” Marco Asensio “with an enormous strike.” “Rodrygo is much more vertical, he risks more, while Marco manages the spaces between the lines very well,” he concluded about the comparison between the Spaniard and the carioca.
