Carlo Ancelotti appeared in the press room at the Santiago Bernabéu after the Champions League debut against Stuttgart: “The headline is that Real Madrid won their first match in this new format of the Champions League. We are still trying to find our best version. We scored at the beginning of the second half and we could have killed the match on transitions, but they equalized and we had the strength to sacrifice ourselves and win the match. If anyone thinks that winning Champions League matches is easy, they are wrong.”
“I have coached more than 200 Champions League games and I can’t remember a single one without suffering. Real Madrid know very well what it means to win a Champions League while suffering. We have won the last two Champions Leagues by defending well and taking advantage of the speed of those up front. We need to work more in possession, but we must never forget that the easiest way to cause pain is to get as close as possible to the opponent’s goal.”
Comparison with the start of last year’s season
“Last year we won the first match against Union Berlin in the 95th minute and suffering a lot. Against Getafe, the same. There is nothing new in terms of suffering. If anyone thinks that matches are won easily, they are wrong. You have to fight, be competitive and suffer too.”
The difficulties in developing the game
“You have to choose between building or playing vertically. The coach’s responsibility, who chooses to play vertically. If we build our actions, we don’t score the first goal. There are times when you have to build and others when you have to play directly because we have very fast attackers.”
Endrick’s Beginnings
“He had courage because the best solution was to take advantage of the one-on-three, but he was convinced he would score and he did very well because the ultimate goal is to score. It was the most complicated solution, but everything went very well. He is capable of doing things that no one would think of. No one imagined him shooting in that situation. He has this gift, which is very effective. You can see in training that he has something special. He is very effective, with a very strong and very fast shot. I am not talking about his personal life. The only thing I can say is that he has been very brave in every way in recent days.”
Courtois’ MVP match
“He is the best goalkeeper in the world without a shadow of a doubt, but I have had goalkeepers of a very high level. At the moment, Courtois is the best of them all.”
The importance of Rüdiger
“He is very decisive in both areas. He is a very important resource, although we must also take into account the quality of the shooter. With his head, he is very strong.”
Lucas Vázquez’s change
“The defenders had a lot of duels and Lucas already had a card. I preferred not to take any risks. The defenders were good at the back. Offensively, we could have been better.”
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