Football

Ancelotti unhappy with Real Madrid's attitude in draw at Bayern

Real Madrid's Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti gives a press conference on the eve of the UEFA Champions League last 16 second leg football match against RB Leipzig at the Ciudad Real Madrid training ground in Valdebebas, outskirts of Madrid, on March 5, 2024. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

By Reuters | Wednesday, May 1, 2024

The Madrid coach opined that his charges were overly defensive and hopes for a change of attitude when the two teams clash in the return tie in a week's time.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was disappointed with his players' attitude, calling them "soft" for defending too deep in their 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final, first leg on Tuesday.

Ancelotti was critical of his team's commitment after Vinicius Jr's first-half goal gave them the lead as Bayern struck twice in four minutes early in the second half to turn the game around before Vinicius equalised from the penalty spot.

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"The result is good but on a level of play we could have done better. Bayern showed their best version and we didn't. We have to improve for next week," an introspective Ancelotti told Movistar Plus+.

It's crazy how Ancelloti doesn't get any credit at all for Vinicius' development. Zidane actually turned up at Stamford Bridge in a UCL semifinal tie with Vinicius at Right Wing Back. https://t.co/5m4U2kMnLj
— Banter Era 😎 (@zern0h) May 1, 2024

"In the first half we defended but with little intensity, in the second half when they took the lead we started to press a bit more, but not enough.

"The feeling was that we were comfortable, but we lacked intensity. We gave them too many chances to take control of the game. We didn't want to play in a low block and we went on doing that. We were soft."