Carlo Ancelotti, the head coach of Real Madrid, said after his team’s Champions League semi-final match against Manchester City on Wednesday that they were defeated by the superior team. Real Madrid was humiliated to the tune of 4-0 by Manchester City, bringing their overall loss to 5-1.
City, who were defeated by Real at the same point last season, avenged that terrible setback with a superb performance in front of their delighted supporters. The only thing that prevented City from doing even more damage was Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
“They played better than us and deserved to win,” Ancelotti stated to the press after the match.
“At the beginning, they applied a lot of pressure, and it worked out well for them because they made it very difficult for us to get the ball in play, and as a result, they went up by two goals.”
After that point, it was quite challenging to get back into the game. During the second half, we made an effort… but it was unsuccessful.
Ancelotti acknowledged that it had been a difficult night but stated that it was too soon to do an investigation into what had gone wrong.
“There is no point in evaluating something at this point in time,” he stated.
“This is a loss that stings, and it stings quite a little. However, it is not impossible. We faced a formidable opponent in the semifinals of the Champions League; nonetheless, they outperformed us and eliminated us from contention for the championship. We have to get smarter before the next season starts, and we need to improve.
Ancelotti was facing the prospect of concluding the season with only the Spanish Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup to show for his team’s efforts. This came around a year after Ancelotti led Real Madrid to victories in both the La Liga and the Champions League, making him the first manager to win championships in all of Europe’s top five divisions.
On Wednesday, though, he established another milestone by becoming the coach with the most games played in the European Cup (191). He accomplished this by exceeding the record that was previously held by Alex Ferguson, who managed Manchester United in the past.
However, because their opponents Barcelona were able to win the La Liga title with four games to go last weekend, Ancelotti was left seeking for a silver lining in the cloud.
“In my opinion, it was a successful season. Ancelotti emphasized the need of putting in a strong performance in the remaining contests.
I believe that making it to the semi-finals of the Champions League is a significant accomplishment because there are only four clubs that are able to do so.