Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti expressed his disappointment with the way his players defended during the 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final yesterday. Ancelotti criticized his players’ lack of ferocity after Vinicius Junior’s goal gave them the lead in the first half, as Bayern scored two goals within four minutes at the start of the second half to turn the tables before Vinicius equalized from a penalty kick.
Ancelotti told the Movistar Plus network: “The result is good, but on the level of play we could have done better. Bayern showed their best version and we did not do that. We have to improve next week. In the first half we defended, but with little force, in the second half.” When they advanced, we started to press a little more, but not enough. We gave them many opportunities to control the match.”
Ancelotti defended his decision to replace midfielder Toni Kroos, who created Vinicius’s first goal with a wonderful pass and was undoubtedly Real Madrid’s best player. The Italian said that he made four substitutions in an attempt to help his team and expressed his satisfaction by scoring the equalizer, which he believes “left the confrontation open” in the return match in Madrid next week.
“Jude Bellingham was suffering from a muscle strain, and Toni Kroos played an amazing game, but the plan was to try to regain control of the match by bringing in fresh blood,” Ancelotti said in a press conference.
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