Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti believes that his team could have defeated Man City in the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg following their 1-1 draw at Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.
Vinicius Jr scored in the 36th minute and Kevin De Bruyne got the equaliser for City in the 67th minute.
Ancelotti expressed optimism regarding the upcoming second leg.
“We could have won it, we deserved to but these things happen,” Realmadrid.com quoted Ancelotti as saying.
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“We come away with positive feelings ahead of the return leg because we played the game well. In the opening 20 minutes, they had a lot of the ball but they didn’t cause us problems.
“Our approach was good and we controlled Manchester City well in the second half. We moved the ball more and created more chances. In the first half. We weren’t very patient playing the ball out. We could have had more of the ball in the first 20 minutes like we did in the second half.”
Ancelotti also believes that Manchester City’s goal should have been ruled out.
“It was out,” Ancelotti said
“It is not me saying that, Technology says so. It was shown by beIN Sports but not VAR because they didn’t see it. It seems strange to me that they didn’t check it properly. Small details. It was a corner for us, but the referee wasn’t very attentive.
“And on top of that, I got a yellow card and I wasn’t even playing. He wasn’t paying much attention because the players on the pitch deserved more yellow cards.”
The second leg of the semi-final fixture will take place on Wednesday, May 17 at the Etihad Stadium.
Real Madrid have won the Champions League a record 14 times.
By Toju Sote
1 Comment
That a referee and 2 assistants, plus VAR did not see that ball cross the line into touch is a wonder. There’s corruption at the highest level of football officiating