Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti stopped to give a brief interview with the Italian press following the conclusion of Tuesday night’s tantalising 3-3 draw against Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Ancelotti described Tuesday night’s blockbuster as an ‘advert for football’, but he always knew that was going to be the case given the nature of the two teams contesting.
The Italian and his squad of Galacticos will head to the Etihad in a fortnight’s time with the scores level.
Bernardo Silva opened the scoring after 108 seconds on Tuesday night, which was answered by two rapid-fire Madrid strikes in the 12th and 14th minutes. Phil Foden, Josko Gvardiol and Fede Valverde all found the net in the second half to end the tie ended level.
Ancelotti’s post-match thoughts
“Great match, it was an advert for football, but it was always going to be that way given the quality that was on the pitch,” Ancelotti said to Mediaset, reported via TMW.
“Whenever we had the chance to keep the pace high, we controlled the game well. They punished us with two goals that flew straight into the top corner.
“A draw was a fair result. Knowing that we fought with them on level terms gives us a lot of confidence heading into the return leg. The only regret is for some opportunities that we could have done better with when the scores were at 2-1.”
Ancelotti was also asked about the atmosphere inside the Santiago Bernabeu, which might have been aided from the closing of the stadium’s roof before kick-off.
“Our stadium helps us a lot,” he said. “But now we will have to do the same without the support of our stadium behind us.”
I am not sure how good an advert for football was a match with so many abysmal errors in defense