Sergio Ramos has said his Real Madrid teammates should be proud of reaching their fourth consecutive Champions League semi-final despite the near disaster at Borussia Dortmund last night.
Los Blancos scraped through 3-2 overall against the Bundesliga side but almost let their 3-0 first leg lead slip in a woeful opening 45 minutes in Germany on Tuesday night. Angel di Maria missed a penalty, and an error strewn performance saw them ship two goals to leave fans biting their nails.
But they held out to qualify and book their place in the last four of the competition.
Afterwards, the long-serving Los Blancos defender said the players should be proud of what they have achieved, but there are still many challenges ahead.
“Obviously it was not a good first half for us,” the defender told reporters. “We’re delighted to have made the semi-finals, but we have to reflect on this performance. The first half wasn’t so good but we were better in the second. We’re not worried about who we play now. To win the Champions League you have to beat the best.”
Ramos also praised the impact of coach Carlo Ancelotti, saying he was a calming influence at half time when it appeared all around him were losing their heads.
“The coach is there for that, to tell us what he needs to and if we go back out (for the second half) maybe we won’t be going through to the semi-finals,” he said.
