“The goals came at crucial moments”: Asensio Praises Real Madrid’s Timely Scoring
Real Madrid centre-back Raul Asencio spoke to the club’s official media after the 2-1 victory over Atletico in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. The Spanish defender thinks that their two goals -Rodrygo Goes and Brahim Diaz- came at the perfect moments to earn the win.
Real Madrid centre-back Raul Asencio highlighted his team’s 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, saying that they dominated “from start to finish”. “We are entering a phase of the Champions League in which all the matches are going to be decided by small details,” he said.
“We knew of Atletico’s quality, but we did a great job dominating from start to finish. We are left with the good individual performances,” he added.
“Both goals – from Rodrygo and Brahim – have helped the team. I’ll take that. The goals came at crucial moments and have given us extra motivation to continue to face the different situations that arose in the match.”, he pointed out.
In addition, he spoke about the sporting moment he is living after being substituted against Real Sociedad, at halftime, after seeing yellow in the first half and hearing chants of “Asencio, die” by a sector of the stands and being a substitute against Real Betis last Saturday.
“On a day-to-day basis, I feel very, very good. I feel very comfortable facing this type of matches. I am very well surrounded, I thank my teammates and the coaching staff for everything they do for me. I hope it stays like this for a long time,” he said.
“We could have scored more goals” – Rodrygo Goes
Rodrygo Goes, Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker and ‘MVP’ against Atletico Madrid, celebrated the victory in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 (2-1), after admitting that it was “very difficult” and that they suffered, but that they ended up missing to score “more goals” to face the second leg “with more tranquility”.
Rodrygo, in his analysis of the match in the mixed zone of the Santiago Bernabeu, described Real Madrid’s slender lead going into the Metropolitano as “very important”. “Very important result, we knew we had to win at home and take the lead. The match was very difficult, we suffered at times, but the most important thing is that we won. We could have scored more goals to have more peace of mind, but now it’s time to think about the second leg”.
The No 11 scored a great goal just four minutes into the derby, “It was a very good move with Fede, which we do a lot in training. He understood perfectly my movement of attacking the back and then I fired a left-footed shot that I also train a lot and that came out very well”.
The Brazilian striker made a positive assessment of the 2-1 victory. “It’s always important to take the lead, but we know it’s slender and the match there is going to be very difficult as always. We have to be very focused, as we were tonight, and we defended very well. We conceded a goal that wasn’t in our plan. We will have to defend well and attack,” he said, highlighting the defensive work done.
“The coach, since the beginning of the season, has asked us to make a lot of sacrifices because we know the quality we have. And to attack, we know what we can do. It’s harder for us to defend. Brahim and I have had to defend a lot because we play on the wings. The coach asks us for this attitude and we are trying to improve,” he said, highlighting the defensive work done.
“It looked like we were playing at home” – Gimenez praises Atletico fans
After the defeat in the Santiago Bernabeu, Jose Maria Gimenez praised Atletico’s work and is confident of turning the tie around in the second leg at the Metropolitano.
Atletico Madrid defender Jose Maria Gimenez remarked on Tuesday, after the 2-1 defeat against Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, his team’s “full confidence” that the ‘Colchonero’ team can pull off the comeback in the second leg at the Metropolitano stadium.
“We have to correct what we did wrong, continue to improve our virtues and what we did well and full confidence that at the Metropolitano we can achieve it,” he said in the mixed zone at the Santiago Bernabeu, while giving the key to victory in the second leg of the tie in a week’s time.
“To trust, to motivate ourselves with our people and to know that it is a final,” the Uruguayan center-back remarked to the media.
“The way we came, the way we played, the way the match went, I think so (they could have achieved something more on Tuesday). Until the goal I think we were totally better than them on the ball, but that’s not enough. They have class, quality and with the slightest chance they score a goal,” he said.
Gimenez highlighted Julian Alvarez’s equaliser as a great goal and thanked the fans for their support at the Bernabeu: “It felt like we were playing at home. We’re going to need that in the second leg”.
“Mbappe couldn’t train for 3 days because of his toothache” – Ancelotti praised his side’s defensive commitment
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti took to the press room after beating Atletico (2-1) and was satisfied with the team’s work. The Italian, who assured that this slender lead gives them “confidence for the second leg”, denied that Mbappe, who vanished during the match, had a muscular problem.
Carlo Ancelotti made a positive assessment of his team’s 2-1 win against Atletico, in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, in which he assured that they acquired “a slender lead” that gives them “confidence for the second leg” next Wednesday at the Metropolitano.
“I’ll stay with the match, it was a difficult game, imagine what it could be like on Wednesday. They are evenly matched games, they are round of 16 but it could be a semifinal or a final. Atletico is a top level team in Europe and you can’t think about securing the tie here. We have taken a slender lead that gives us confidence for the second leg,” he said at the press conference.
Ancelotti justified the low-key performance of Vinicius and Mbappe, whom he thanked for their defensive work. “It wasn’t the idea to press too much. Atletico had control of the game as we had, but they didn’t create us many chances”.
“Playing against Atletico’s defence is not easy. We haven’t had many chances between Vini and Mbappe, only one final between the two that could have ended better. They have worked, they have fought, they have not shown the quality they have but there is the second leg to do so,” he assured.
Ancelotti ruled out that the Frenchman is playing with some muscular problem that conditions him, having missed a game due to the extraction of a tooth. “The truth is that he has not been able to work much, because the toothache has not allowed him to train for three days. He arrived at the match against Betis not in his best condition. It was good for him to rest to be well for the next game.”
“He was fine, he didn’t have any problems. His work and that of Vini have made the rest of the team solid, organised at the back. When they get in a good position, they allow the two midfielders to be closer to the defence and help them,” he said.
Finally, he acknowledged that his team felt the physical fatigue in the last minutes, but he considered the result a good one. “In the last minutes there could have been fatigue. It gave us more peace of mind to score the third, but we have to fight just the same in the second leg. Not much changes with this slender lead because it will be just as complicated. We have time to prepare well,” he concluded.
“Talk now!” – Brahim Responds to Simeone’s Pre-Match Statements
After his goal, Brahim pointed to the Atletico Madrid bench to recall Diego Simeone’s words in the run-up to the game. The Argentine almost ruled out the Morocco international to start in the first leg.
55th minute of the match. Real Madrid, after Julian Alvarez’s equaliser, was in a moment of anxiety in terms of sensations and play. Atletico improved on the ball and took control of a match that was not looking good for Carlo Ancelotti’s team. The Italian was looking for solutions on the bench, but the best one was on the pitch. Without lucidity, he showed daring. Brahim Diaz linked up with Vinicius and Mendy to find space and get inside the box.
A street dribble, unorthodox and almost dangerous for his ankle, but Brahim lowered the center of gravity, threw a couple of feints and got rid of the Gimenez before beating Jan Oblak’s with a classy finish to the far post. It was his moment of glory. He celebrated, first, with the fans before heading to the touchlin. First, he greeted Ancelotti.
After that, Brahim sent his -several- messages to the Atletico bench zone, where Diego Pablo Simeone was trying to give encouragement to his team after the 2-1 defeat. Brahim told him: “Talk now! Talk now! Talk now! Talk now! You talked yesterday! Talk now!”. Simeone, arms folded, did not respond.
A rare gesture for him, as he does not usually get involved in this type of controversy and that responds, at least on paper, to Simeone’s statements about what he could expect from Real Madrid’s approach. “They will look to compensate, I imagine, with Camavinga alongside Modric and Tchouameni in midfielder. There is a possibility that it could be Brahim, but I don’t think so because there is obviously a pattern that repeats itself and possibly they will play this way,” were his words.
Neither Simeone himself -at the press conference- nor Brahim -in the mixed zone- wanted to talk about this issue and both shied away from the subject.
“We could have done better in both goals” – Simeone Urged His Side to Improve Ahead of Second Leg
Atletico Madrid lost the first leg against Madrid in the Champions League (2-1) and Simeone, already in the press room, was critical of the goals his team conceded. “We could have done better in the two plays of the goals we conceded,” said the Argentine coach.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone lamented on Tuesday, after the 2-1 defeat against Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, that his team “could have done better in the two goals” conceded and considered that “the result is not good”, but there is still the second leg at home.
“The result is not good. It is clear that we are looking to draw or win the match. I leave with the feeling that the team competed well, that we could have done better in the two goals we conceded. We have to continue with the same pace against Getafe and from Sunday start thinking about the second leg, which will be tough, difficult, that we are playing in our stadium and that we have the support of our fans and that it will be an important match,” he said at a press conference at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
“The two goals from them I think were key. We couldn’t handle them well. We could have done better. Those important details put the tie in their favour so far,” continued Simeone, who is more upset about “the second” goal from the ‘Merengue’ side, because his team was “controlling the match better and the sensations were very good.” “The first goal was very fast, very explosive. In the second goal, the superiority was notorious. We ended up competing well, we took risks in the last play”, the coach added.
“We had a lot of control of the game. The best part of the match was the team’s reaction to their early goal. We started to play the game we wanted to play, Julian’s goal came, we had the chance when Giuliano sent in a cross and Lino didn’t manage to push it into the net. We left with the feeling of being good on the field in the first half,” he reviewed.
“In the second half, we started the same way, with control of the game without depth, except for De Paul’s play that could have been a goal. Situations were generated, the team was good, their goal came and from then on another game started, where you run the risk of 3-1. We lost. It happened to us last year in Milan (against Inter), when we lost 1-0. We have to make a huge effort on Wednesday to be able to continue where we want to be.”
“That hope that wasn’t a goal (in the last play) gives us an open door for what’s to come,” said the coach, about the second game at the Metropolitano, from which he remarked that he will need his fans, with “their energy” for the comeback.
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