The Los Blancos lost 4-3 against Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final clash at Etihad stadium on Tuesday.
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Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti was frustrated with his side’s first half performance in the 4-3 loss against Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final clash on Tuesday. At Etihad Stadium, Man City went 2-0 up inside the opening 12 minutes, courtesy of goals from Kevin de Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus before Karim Benzema pulled one back for the visitors. After the break, Vinicius Junior canceled out Phil Foden’s goal before Bernardo Silva restored Man city’s two goal lead. But Karim Benzema’s late penalty reduced the deficit for Ancelotti’s side.
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“I’m a bit frustrated because we came second best in many of our individual duels in the first half and they (City) scored two goals that we could have avoided had we been paying attention. We managed to produce a reaction and keep the game alive ahead of the return leg. It’s a defeat that keeps us in the tie ahead of the second match at the Bernabeu. We’ve got to improve defensively because we’ve got the quality up top to pose them problems in the return leg,” said Ancelotti post-match.
The Los Blancos were in sixes and sevens in the opening 30 minutes of the game and Man City could have scored three or four goals in that time period, if not for some poor finishing by the Man City attackers. On 25 minutes, Silva released Riyad Mahrez down the right channel, the Algerian entered the penalty area but side-netted from a promising position.
Three minutes later, De Bruyne played a brilliant through ball to release Foden down the left channel, but once again the Man City attacker wasn’t clinical enough and missed the target.
Even the two early goals Madrid conceded were because of some poor defending inside the box. Within two minutes of kick-off, Mahrez cut inside from the right and delivered a brilliant inswinging cross for an unmarked De Bruyne to head home past Thibaut Courtois.
And then, a few minutes later, the Belgian playmaker turned provider for Jesus’ goal. De Bruyne’s pass from the left flank picked up Jesus inside the box, his first touch allowed him to get past David Alaba before slotting home past Courtois into the back of the net.
“I get the feeling that we started the game very poorly. We were too soft and ended up conceding two goals. The team then showed its ability to produce a reaction. We competed and were in the game right up until the end. We have to improve defensively. We did well in possession and created goal-scoring opportunities.
“ It’ll be really important that we improve defensively in the return leg. I’ve got a very experienced team that keep their cool when the going gets tough. They’ve played many games like this and never give in and always keep their heads up,” opined the manager on realmarid.com.
