Real Madrid’s coach revealed on Monday that his side will not underestimate Chelsea in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at the Santiago Bernabeu despite having a 2 goal advantage and he also refuted Thomas Tuchel’s claims that the tie is over.
Thomas Tuchel admitted after the match that the tie was over: “Today, is this [tie] alive with this performance? No, not at the moment.
“We have to find ourselves again, I don’t know where we have been since the international break. Tonight was a repetition of the second half against Brentford in a quarter-final against Real Madrid.
However, Ancelotti has insisted that they will not take anything for granted against the defending Champions and claimed Real Madrid has a great opportunity to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.
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What did Carlo Ancelotti say?
“Chelsea is here to bring the fight to us. It will be tough for them of course but they will try. Good teams never give up,” Ancelotti said in a press conference.
“I know my players very well,” said Ancelotti. “They are well aware of what happened a few weeks ago (against Barca) and what is required tomorrow. We won’t be underestimating anyone. This is a great opportunity to reach the semis but Chelsea is a very good team. We have to respect them.”
“It’s the only way we can prepare for this game, thinking that Chelsea will be better tomorrow and be ready. There is no other way. We are ready. We know we will have to suffer and we are ready to suffer,” Ancelotti added
Casemiro has also insisted that Real Madrid cannot afford to be over-confidence.
“best 90 minutes of our season” against Chelsea in the first leg. “But we can’t afford to be over-confident,” he added.
After the Clasico humiliation, Ancelotti’s future at Real Madrid was called into question, but three wins in a row, including the victory over Chelsea, have relieved the pressure. Real Madrid currently leads La Liga by 12 points.
When asked if he expected to continue as coach next season, he said yes:
“I hope so. I have a relatively long contract (until 2024) but that’s not what I’m thinking about right now. If the club is happy with me, great. If not, I will be grateful for the opportunity I got to manage Real Madrid again.”
Real Madrid and Ancelotti will hope their star man Karim Benzema will have his day on Tuesday at the Bernabeu.
Both the Manager and Casemiro have expressed how the Team relies on Benzema.
This is what Ancelotti said about Benzema: “Karim has to be a modern striker,”
In the old days, strikers would hang around the box and just tap the ball in when they could. Now they have to do more.
“Modern strikers don’t just score the tap-ins. They have to defend. They have to fight. In my opinion, Karim is the model modern striker.”
“I have nothing to hide. We rely on him and I’m happy about that.”
Casemiro said Benzema is an “historic player for the club” and “perhaps right now the most important player we have”.
