Ancelotti’s men will compete in the semifinals against either Man City or Bayern.
Carlo Ancelotti hailed his side after putting a great display in 2nd leg quarterfinals at Syamford Bridge against Chelsea. It was the second time this year when Madrid overcame the Premier League side in away trip.
The Los Blancos boss appeared in the Stamford Bridge press room and analysed Real Madrid’s qualification for the Champions League semi-finals: “We are delighted to play in another semi-final and will keep striving to reach the final. Reaching a semi-final is always a success because it allows you to dream of winning another Champions League and playing another final. It was difficult, which is what we expected, because your opponents go all out to get through.
Chelsea did very well in the first half and caused us a few problems, but we put in a very well-rounded second half, raised our game and moved the ball around better and had more dynamism.”
Ancelotti also added, “At this stage of the season the team is doing very well. We have worked well over recent games and the team is highly motivated and focused. We are very solid and we concede very few goals. At half-time we talked about fixing some defensive problems because we suffered a bit in the first half. I put Valverde on the left to help Camavinga because that’s where Kanté came in and James was also there.”
Ancelotti also discussed the key part of the tie and said, “We can make a difference when there is a collective defensive commitment. That’s the basis for showing the quality we have. We have a lot of quality and being solid at the back helps us a lot.” Rodrygo “His performance was not as good as others he’s had, but he was extremely effective.
He made the difference and won the game with his two goals. We’re lucky to have young players with so much energy and quality at this club. It’s something to look forward to. They give us a lot of confidence for the future.”
In the end, he talked about Courtois’ save before the break “The save to deny Cucurella was crucial because it could’ve changed the pattern of play in the second half. It was important because Chelsea played with a lot of intensity.”
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