UCL semis: Guardiola, Ancelotti delighted at exterme competition as City-Madrid settle for draw in opening leg

Real Madrid and Manchester City settled for a hard-fought 1-1 draw in Madrid on Wednesday. Meanwhile, club bosses Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola of the respective clubs were delighted at the competition.

On Tuesday, it was an ultimate semi-final opening leg between defending champion Real Madrid and English champion Manchester City during the UEFA Champions League (UCL) at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. The two sides settled for a competitive 1-1 draw, with Vinicius Junior (36th) and Kevin De Bruyne (67th) scoring for the respective sides.

Meanwhile, following the meeting, the head coaches of both sides expressed their delight at the competition. Talking to BT Sport, Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti spoke about how his team managed to restrict prolific City striker, Erling Haaland, saying, “Defensively, we were good. Rudiger against Haaland did well, and the midfield had control. The performance was good, and we are happy. We have a strong motivation for the next game.”

“An interesting game. Difficult for us in the first half, and the second half was much better. We had good control in the game. When they [City] had lots of possession, we were in control defensively. Then, when we started to play the ball, we caused difficulties. We had to keep our positions defensively. Then, when we got the opportunity, we scored the first goal: a great strike, a fantastic moment. The team played well. I am satisfied,” added Ancelotti.

Meanwhile, City boss Pep Guardiola mentioned, “When we were better, they score; when they were better, we score. It was a tight, tight game. Bernabeu’s semi-final is always difficult. We had good moments, but sometimes it wasn’t easy with their [Madrid] quality with the ball. But yeah, 1-1, it’s a final next Wednesday with our people next week.”

“It is so demanding. They [Madrid] are so good. They have experience and quality. But now, we are travelling to Manchester and will see what we can do better. Playing these kinds of games is like a playoff, so the second [leg], you learn a lot from the first. Hopefully, we can learn to defend and attack better,” added Guardiola.

When questioned about Haaland’s failure to score, the Spaniard exemplified, “The distance between the central defenders and the full-backs was occupied for attacking midfielders, for [Luka] Modric, for Toni Kroos, for [Fede] Valverde. So, there was a twin central defender close to Erling. It was not easy for him.”