Madrid (Archyde.com)
After another magical night at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti credited reaching the Champions League final with not giving up, an essential part of the club’s concept.
Real Madrid were on the verge of being knocked out by Manchester City, but bounced back to win 3-1 following extra time and 6-5 on aggregate in the semi-final match.
This was the third consecutive time that the team was behind in the knockout stages this season, as it had previously been repeated once morest Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, but the Spanish champions won to maintain their hopes of achieving the title for the fifth time in nine years.
Ancelotti told Movistar Plus in his usual calm manner: “This is the beauty of this club, it is a club that does not give up, even when it seems that everything is over, it is a feeling that gives you the strength to carry on, to carry on the faith. It seemed that everything was over, we extracted all our energy.”
He added, “If you draw in the last minutes, you will have a psychological advantage, you will enter another space and in front of our fans it will be difficult for the visiting team. We defeated three teams capable of winning the title. It was a success.”
Brazilian midfielder Casemiro said that the club enjoyed great confidence, following winning the Spanish League title on Saturday, and celebrating with its fans for the first time since the end of the restrictions to combat the “Covid-19” virus.
“We spent two years without communicating with our fans, and we need to enjoy with them, because they give us the energy to play as we did, and the best approach for this club is not to give up until the end. You never give up.”
Real Madrid will play Liverpool in the final in Paris on May 28.
Casemiro, who was part of the team that beat Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final in Kyiv, believes that defeating the English side will be a “complicated task”.
Ancelotti agreed with his player’s comments, and praised a rival he knows well from his time with Everton.
He added, “I am very happy to play the final once morest a great team, I played once morest them as a player and coach, I lived in Liverpool for two years, for me this is a top match, I still belong to Everton, so I feel it is a personal confrontation for me.”
