Real Madrid’s Champions League Dominance: Feeling at Home in C1

For those who might have forgotten it a little quickly, Real Madrid are right at home in the Champions League. It is both his garden and his house. So, just to put the points straight, the Merengues decided to strike hard this Wednesday evening by eliminating Manchester City, the defending champion, at the end of the night.

Despite countless sky blue waves in a meeting spent defending, mainly, after the quick opening score signed by Rodrygo (12th), Real finally emerged victorious from the fight (1-1, 3-4 tab, 3-3 on the way out) not without having wavered and trembled. “But we always fight until the end, we are Real Madrid,” recalled Nacho after the match. “City have a better game than us, but we are Real Madrid,” his teammate Federico Valverde followed suit.

To win here, you have to sacrifice and fight

“We should never give Real Madrid up for dead, because Real Madrid never dies,” enthused Carlo Ancelotti to Movistar, happy to see that his team “knew how to suffer” without “never breaking up”. The Italian also took the opportunity to take his revenge on Pep Guardiola, who soundly beat him last year in the semi-final at the Etihad Stadium (4-0).

After Real’s qualification this evening, Ancelotti now has 115 Champions League victories from 201 matches played. “I think we defended very, very well tonight,” he explained, almost exhausted by this double confrontation. “We knew how to suffer, to fight, to sacrifice ourselves… Sometimes, with Real Madrid, you manage to bring out things that you didn’t think you had. During the penalty shootout, we were convinced that we were going to qualify. To win here, you have to sacrifice and fight, it can only be done this way. , we can win the C1.”

“Today, it all came down to mentality,” Jude Bellingham told TNT Sports. “It’s a relief, you give so much in this type of match.” Against Manchester City, “it’s so hard” because “they keep making you move”. “Most teams collapse when City dominate them, but we held up very well,” he said. “You have to see it as a responsibility and not as pressure if you want to play for a team like Real Madrid.”

“The favorite was in this quarter, it’s even clearer now”

He also wanted to highlight the personality of his coach to explain the team’s success. “Our greatest strength is that he finds a way to let a lot of us play freely. We are so free. As a man, he fills you with calm and confidence,” Bellingham said.

Guardiola congratulates Real Madrid

Hero of the evening by stopping the penalties of Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic, Andriy Lunin conceded that his team had suffered greatly. “But in certain matches you have to know how to overcome that, you can’t always have the ball and be the best team on the pitch,” he reminded Movistar. Real Madrid suffered, yes, didn’t show much, but they got a victory that no team had managed to get on the European stage at the Etihad since… Olympique Lyonnais in September 2018.

“Congratulations to Real Madrid for qualifying for the semi-final, they defended really low and with great solidarity, underlined Pep Guardiola at a press conference. They managed to do it very well and we were not able to correct certain details to mark more.” The Spaniard, whose C1 victory counter currently remains stuck at 109 matches won out of 169 played, will be able to console himself with the applause and a few chants from his supporters after the final whistle. But for City, the adventure ends here.

Carlo Ancelotti durant Real Madrid-Manchester City – Champions League 2023/2024

Credit: Getty Images

For their part, Ancelotti and Real are preparing to face another giant of the continent, Bayern Munich, in the last four. With only one goal in mind: the Wembley final. The result is a fifteenth Champions League. Insane. Except when we are Real Madrid and we feel at home in C1.

2024-04-18 06:02:00
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