Ancelotti: Citizens were better than us and deserved to go through. We’re already thinking about the next Champions League

Real Madrid failed to reach the Champions League semi-final rematch, losing 0:4 to Manchester City. At a press conference, coach Carlo Ancelotti acknowledged the quality of the opposition.

The 1-1 result gave Real a decent chance for the rematch. But they would have had to play a very different first half. Los Blancos were extremely passive, struggled to pass the ball twice in a row and were under immense pressure.

The home side had plenty of time and space to do everything and that’s where Bernardo Silva’s two goals came from.

In the second half, Real got a bit more composed and started to play more offensively, only for an own goal from a centre to completely put them down after that. Julián Alvárez then added the final goal.

“We played against an opponent who deserved to win today because they played with more intensity and quality. They were better today, just like we were last season. That can happen in the Champions League semi-finals,” said Carlo Ancelotti at the press conference.

“We didn’t play the way we planned. There is no need to make a drama out of it. We simply lost a game in which our opponent was better. I don’t want to hear anything about our approach not being good,” the Real coach dismissed criticism of the players’ approach.

Real have nothing to play for in the rest of the season, so they are already slowly preparing for next season. It has reached the Champions League semi-finals 11 times in the last 13 seasons, an impressive number.

“We will try to be better next year. I am convinced this team will do better next year and we are already focusing on the next Champions League, where we want to play a major role again,” Ancelotti added.

Source: Real Madrid, UEFA