Real Madrid had a difficult time in Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday night. Ancelotti’s team, which was missing some key men due to injury and rotation reasons, tried to keep the pace but did not get what they wanted. Atletico seemed ahead in the physical and mental aspect and had better team plays and combionations, giving them the opportunity to create more chances. However the game was decided by a penalty in the first half. The 2nd half saw a more solid Real Madrid with better opportunities and fewer mistakes, turning the game into an equal fight.
Carlo Ancelotti spoke in the press room at the Wanda Metropolitano and gave his thoughts on Real Madrid's match against Atlético: "Now is not the time to criticise at this stage. We weren't pleased with the first-half performance because we misplaced a lot of passes. The mental part of the game is very important in matches like this. At times, it's crucial. Atlético had an edge in this respect. We didn't need the points, but we needed to put in a good performance. We did better in the second half. We needed to rest the tired players to prevent any potential problems".
"It was a good game, particularly the second half. We were close to drawing the game and we have to carry that forward. Our priority was to avoid any problems and for those players who haven't played as much, to get some minutes. It'll be like that in the next matches. Those who played the least today will play on Thursday. Benzema, Modrić, Vinicius... These games help us to find our rhythm and we had that until the end today", he continued.
Mariano's injury: "Mariano was included in the starting eleven, but he didn't feel right due to soreness in his hamstring. He tested it this morning and it seemed he was going to be fine, but in the end he wasn't comfortable. I preferred to put Jović in, who had problems with gastroenteritis and played the game. I didn't plan to bring Benzema on".
Resting the starters: "Benzema was tired and he hadn't fully recovered. My main priority is to avoid any problems. Modrić was also tired and I preferred not to play him on from the beginning. The idea is that they’ll all be available for the 28th and we’re working with that in mind. Jović struggled because we had a really tough time of things when it came to playing the ball out from the back and we didn't manage to play out cleanly. Our forwards had a tough time”.
Is Valverde an undisputed starter: “Valverde is an undisputed starter”.
Booking: “I didn't tell anybody to shut up. I had a bit of a run-in with the assistant and he showed me a yellow card. Diego (Simeone) spoke to me, congratulated me and everything is fine with him”.
Planning: “We've got just the right time and we have these games to play and they'll do us good. We've got the chance to get everybody back and fit and in good shape for the final. We've got a game on Thursday and we won't be able to do any work. We’ve then got Sunday's match. Our preparations over the two weeks will be just the same as usual and we’ll work on our fitness, strength and tactics. We won't be doing anything special. At this moment in time, the best thing is to change as little as possible”.
Comments