Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said his side was too scared in the first half of their game against Borussia Dortmund last night.
Leading 3-0 going into the game, Los Blancos had a disastrous opening 45 minutes in Germany, missing a penalty and conceding two goals to allow the Germans back into the tie. The nine-time European Cup winners improved slightly in the second half and managed to see out the game and qualify for the semi-finals for the fourth consecutive year.
Afterwards, the Italian boss said he was happy to have qualified, but admitted the team played poorly. “I’m happy to get to the semis, even though we gifted them a lot, especially in the first half. In the second we didn’t lose out heads, we defended better and we had chances to score. Football is like that, we gifted and then we suffered,” he said.
And he continued: “After the missed penalty, we got scared. The first half was hard. At the break I didn’t have to give them a stern talking to. The side was sad, low on confidence, they needed animating and we changed a little, putting Bale on the right and Isco on the left. Things got better in the second half.”
Ancelotti picked out Iker Casillas as the star performer on the night, making some incredible saves to keep his side ahead in the tie. “Casillas made a great save at a very important moment in the game.”
He also admitted Angel di Maria may be pushed down the list of penalty takers in future after his miss from the spot. He stated: “The last time Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t play, against Olímpic de Xàtiva, Di María took it. I don’t know if we’ll change it now and it will be the third or fourth taker.”
