Ancelotti: “Maybe we could have done more vs 10 men, but we should be satisfied”

Following Real Madrid’s 2-0 first leg win against Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media and described the midway stage of the tie as so: “We wanted the take a lead there and we have, but we’ll need to suffer again because Chelsea are a great team. We’ll need to fight for 90 more minutes. Maybe with them having 10 men we could have done more, and maybe we lacked some energy at the end, but we should be satisfied. We just need to repeat this performance in Stamford Bridge.”

Ancelotti on the difference between Rodrygo and Asensio

Responding to a question from our own Lucas Navarrete, on the difference between what Rodrygo and Asensio offer, Ancelotti said: ”Rodrygo risks more because he is more vertical and takes players on more. Asensio manages the spaces in between lines more and shoots so well. That’s why him playing in between the lines sometimes helps him to shoot.”

Ancelotti on Carvajal’s performance

Dani Carvajal has a good game in this quarter-final first leg and the coach discussed it saying: “When we have important matches, Dani always steps up. The pressing we tried to do was in large part down to the defensive work of the right flank. He pushed a lot against Chilwell. He always steps up in these types of games.”

Ancelotti on the centre-back play

The fact that Carvajal pressed a lot left more work for the centre-backs and Ancelotti discussed this saying: “We have amazing centre-backs and they defended the space against Sterling and João Félix really well. We’re doing well at the back, even without Mendy and with Camavinga filling in there. With Kroos as a pivot, that helped us a lot playing out from the back. Maybe Kroos playing as pivot affects us defensively, but the forwards help us out defensively too.”

Ancelotti on Valverde’s response

After the Fede Valverde controversy on Saturday, the Uruguayan played really well here and Ancelotti was asked about that. He said: “He was the best player on the pitch, bringing a lot of energy. He paid attention to positioning well and worked well defensively with Kroos. We changed the positioning at the back a little after the opening 10 minutes and he was spectacular in terms of recovering the ball.”

Ancelotti on Asensio’s goal

Discussing the contribution of Marco Asensio, he said: ”He is doing really well and is scoring in many games. He can be decisive and it’s good to have a player like this in a squad because he can score and assist.”