Ancelotti: “Maybe I made a mistake in the eleven; the whistles were deserved » | Soccer | Sports
As soon as he returned from the break, Vinicius did not find the parade that Madrid went through against Leipzig enough, without a single opportunity to remember and harassed at many moments, so that he decided to tempt fate a little more. In an inconsequential action away from the ball, he carried Willi Orbán excessively, confronted the defender and then very recklessly pushed him at neck level. Not with much force, but enough to make the stadium tremble in the face of a possible expulsion. It was close to red, but the referee, without resorting to VAR, left it yellow.
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Andriy Lunin, Nacho, Dani Carvajal, Rüdiger, Ferland Mendy, Kroos (Modric, min. 77), Camavinga (Rodrygo, min. 45), Aurélien Tchouameni, Jude Bellingham (Joselu, min. 84), Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde
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Gulacsi, Willi Orban, Castello Lukeba, Benjamin Henrichs, David Raum, ). ) and Benjamin Sesko (Christoph Baumgartner, min. 84)
Goals 1-0 minutes. 65: Vinicius Junior. 1-1 minutes. 68: Willi Orban.
Arbitrator David Massa
Yellow cards Xavier Schlager (min. 19), David Raum (min. 50), Vinicius Junior (min. 53), Willi Orban (min. 71), Aurélien Tchouameni (min. 72) and Kroos (min. 75)
It was confirmation that after an hour of Madrid confusion and discomfort, the Bernabéu was heading towards a thriller in what remained of the night. Vini himself threatened to provide one last relief when he found the first clear chance for the Whites, but his famous Orbán responded with a header after three minutes as he edged past the downtrodden Nacho.
So yes, panic began to invade all the corridors of the Bernabéu, a sensation that was not new for days that, a priori, seemed like a transition. As in the 2015 round of 16 against Schalke 04, with Ancelotti on the bench, where despite the 0-2 in the first leg, the white team ended up trembling (3-4). Or like against Juventus in the 2018 quarter-finals, when the Italians leveled the first leg at 0-3 after the break. Or like against Chelsea in the 2022 quarter-finals, when the English equalized at 1-3 in London half an hour from time. “We are not able to manage the advantage,” lamented Carletto, who also spoke of this evening during his first appearance in Madrid against Schalke. Nine years later, similar sensations.
This Wednesday, like the previous ones, he once again avoided total disaster during a panicked evening in Chamartín on his 122nd birthday. He received up to 20 shots in total from the Germans, as many as in the match against Chelsea in 2022 from which he also escaped alive.
There was no excuse in Ancelotti’s speech, interventionist in the team and in the lead when it came to taking responsibility. “If I had changed those who were not doing well, I might also have changed coaches,” he said, already relieved. “It was a poorly played match with little intensity. The psychological aspect had a lot of influence. The rival had nothing to lose and we put the brakes on from the start,” recognized Carlo Ancelotti, who surprised in the eleven with an accumulation of midfielders which did not work.
“Maybe I made a mistake in the lineup. I used ways to increase the intensity, press high and avoid counter-attacks, but we were in a low block and without pressing. The whistles at the end of the first half were deserved. Now, I wouldn’t do this alignment. Not at all,” admitted the Italian, who even attracted attention with the bet of his colleague Marco Rose. “We were a little surprised by the midfield (Madrid). Lots of players in the middle. But hey, they were at the top level,” commented the visiting coach.
“It looks like it’s a tragedy.”
As in the championship clash at the Metropolitano, in one of only two White defeats this season, Ancelotti moved the tree in the same direction and brought together five midfielders. It didn’t go well against Atlético and also against Leipzig. Neither Germany’s 0-1 nor a historically boneless rival in Europe have deterred Carlo Ancelotti from taking serious action. It’s not so surprising that he sent Rodrygo to the corner to think (three low-weight goals in the last 15 games), but rather the solution: another midfielder (Camavinga) and with only one pure striker ( Vinicius).
However, after three shots on goal from the Germans in the first 15 minutes, Ancelotti’s instructions from the sidelines multiplied and crisis meetings with his advisors followed one another to try to reassemble a confused, disoriented and cracked team. . After half an hour, the flute started playing at the Bernabéu. From then until the end, the night went from fright to fright for the whites.
“Mission accomplished. That’s it, let’s think about what’s next,” said Nacho, who was clinging to the only good thing the day had for his team: the result. “It wasn’t a good match, even with the score in our favor. They quickly point out the disadvantages. “No one said it was going to be easy,” added the captain. “It looks like it’s a tragedy and we’re in the next round.” concluded the central defender.
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