In the press room, the Real Madrid coach discussed the match against Atlético Madrid at the Metropolitano and his team’s qualification for the quarterfinals.
What’s your analysis of the match and the difficulties in the first half? How was the penalty shootout?: “The match was difficult, as always, made even more so by the goal we conceded. Afterwards, the game was pretty clear in terms of reading the situation. They defended and tried to find us out of position on the counterattack. The priority was to maintain effective possession, looking for opportunities, but without complicating the game. The tie was even. It’s difficult to create chances against Atlético because they’re a very good team defensively. We had one with a wonderful play by Mbappé, we missed the penalty, and the game was balanced until the shootout. We put on our best player for the first, Mbappé, and for the fifth, we selected Rüdiger because he scored against City.”
How did you see Julián’s disallowed penalty? Did they notice it from the bench?: “I think they had already detected it. By the time we realized this doubt, the VAR had already detected it. I didn’t notice this. I saw it, and it seemed to me he was using his left foot on the second touch.”
What can make the difference in the penalty shootout?: “I have no idea. You have to choose the coolest possible options. I still think it’s a lottery, it’s either heads or tails. Today we got heads. Atlético comes out of this competition with their heads held high because they played at a good level.”
How did he handle that challenge?: “Calmly, because when it’s a lottery game, when it’s a coin toss, you can’t go crazy. You have to wait and see what happens.”
Do you know what Mendy has yet?: “It could be a muscle injury, he felt a twinge in the back.”
The penalty that Vinicius took in the match, was it predetermined who would take it or was it decided at the time?: “It was decided that Vini would take it, but unfortunately he missed.”
What do you think of Camavinga’s performance?: “He was at his best in the toughest match. He hasn’t been at his best in recent matches. The Tchouameni-Modric duo performed very well, and I decided to substitute Tchouameni, who had a yellow card, to avoid any risks. Camavinga played a very good match offensively and defensively.”
“We were hesitating between Endrick and Rüdiger; I saw Endrick’s face and we said, ‘Better, Rüdiger.’”
What’s your mental analysis of the match?: “I tried to explain the priority, which was not to complicate the game by losing unnecessary balls that could catch you off guard. If they scored 2-0, the game would have become very complicated. We found more opportunities in extra time and the second half.”
Rüdiger’s penalty. Did he volunteer?: “We were hesitant between Endrick and Rüdiger. I saw Endrick’s face and we said, ‘Better Rüdiger.'”
Why did you substitute Vinicius?: “He wasn’t going to take the penalty and asked me to substitute him because he was tired.”
Do you feel like you can push the team to do more?: “We always have to look for improvement. Specifically for this match, I tried to explain what the priority was, because at times it seemed like we needed to score, but we’ve never been out of the tie. On the downside, the tie was tied.”
“Sometimes it seemed like we needed to score, but we’ve never been out of the tie.”
Ancelotti, in the Movistar flash interview: “We wanted to finish the game before the penalties.”
The Real Madrid coach spoke first in the Movistar flash interview .
The match: “My concern was playing a game without control. If you don’t have many chances, the tie was tied and you had to look for a counterattack. In the second half, we had good control in the opponent’s half; if you don’t score, it could go to penalties.”
Extra time: “We wanted to end the game before penalties. Camavinga contributed a lot, as did Valverde in the middle. Tchouameni was booked, which is why I substituted him. Brahim contributed a lot too. It’s our team, we’re having problems, and Mendy is also injured. But we keep fighting, as is customary at this club.”
