Marco Rose: “Modric has been a very important factor against us”

Marco Rose spoke to the press after Borussia Monchengladbach’s 2 - 0 loss to Real Madrid tonight. Our own Kiyan Sobhani asked Rose about his team’s defensive performance, and why his team struggled to close Real Madrid’s flanks, when they did such a good job at doing so in the first leg in Germany earlier this season.

“We have had that difficulty,” Rose said. “We gave Real Madrid too much time and space. Madrid played a different game than the first leg, Modric was a very important factor against us. We ran back a lot and we couldn’t get much of the ball.”

“This time we weren’t where we had to be to play against a strong Madrid,” Rose continued. “We allowed ourselves to be cornered. We simply had little faith and weren’t able to give them problems. Madrid was very dominant. When Madrid is under pressure they show a very high level, and it was difficult for us to follow it.”