RB Leipzig could have advanced on several occasions at the start of the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, but Real Madrid was gaining ground on the Germans and took an important victory thanks to a great goal from Brahim Díaz (0-1) . Despite the poor staging, the whites’ coach, Carlo Ancelotti, ended up satisfied with his pupils.
“It has been difficult for us. It is like that here. Especially at the beginning of the first half. It has been a competitive, suffered and fought game. There are many positive aspects. We have been solid in defense despite the losses. We have made good transitions. But We were able to draw, we have to be honest,” the Italian analyzed the match to Movistar.
The coach celebrated the victory, but recalled that there is still the return leg at the Santiago Bernabéu. “It’s a small advantage. Nobody had the idea of ??finishing the tie here. But now there are another 90 minutes in our stadium, which will be quite different,” said the transalpine player, who also highlighted the work of his goalkeeper: “It’s the best game of Lunin since I’ve known him. He’s making a lot of progress.
The goalkeeper, author of nine saves, was also the protagonist in Henrichs’ controversial goal disallowed due to positional offside. “It’s offside. He was behind Lunin,” Ancelotti said about the play where Sesko headed the ball into the back of the net in the 2nd minute of the match, when the fifth-place team in the Bundesliga was at its best.
For his part, Lunin also described how he saw the controversy play out. “It was bothering me, it could be interpreted as a foul. Then I took a couple of steps back. I think it was offside,” explained the Ukrainian, the best player of the match along with Brahim Díaz.
“Very happy to have helped the team and win despite the losses,” said the scorer of the goal of the match, who ended up being substituted in the second half due to a blow to his calf: “I noticed a blow. I don’t know if it went up. the soleus.” The man from Malaga will undergo tests this Tuesday to find out the extent of his injury.
“I receive the ball. I make the first feint. I saw that they were afraid to attack me, they backed off a lot and I put it in the corner. I am intuitive. I have seen Vinícius, but in the end I decided to shoot. Very proud to have these teammates, I they make everything easier,” Brahim explained his play, in which he left several rivals before connecting with an unstoppable shot from the right side of the Madrid attack.
Check all the results of the Champions League.
