How did Ancelotti handle the substitutions? Kroos: He consulted with the senior players, that’s a great description of how he gets on with the team

Real Madrid turned around the Champions League semi-final with Manchester City in incredible fashion on Wednesday night. The following words of Toni Kroos prove that there is a perfect atmosphere in the Los Blancos cabin.

To be able to turn difficult games around, you need a fully functioning team and a clean environment. Because turnovers and goals in the last minutes don’t fall because of the quality of the players, but because of character, will and dedication for each other.

At the moment, Real Madrid is oozing teamwork. The atmosphere in the cabin is absolutely perfect, as you can see from various club videos or team celebrations. Adding to it all is coach Carlo Ancelotti, who fits into this symbiosis perfectly.

During the weekend’s league title celebrations, he had himself immortalised with a cigar alongside Vinícius, Milito, Rodrygo and Alaba. His answer to the question about the winning cigar was all telling. “No, I don’t smoke cigars. It was just a funny picture with my friends. Because these players are my friends.”

And he confirmed that he takes the players that way in the Champions League semi-final. Real Madrid miraculously turned the score around in stoppage time and took the game into extra time. There, he quickly went ahead and had to start defending the lead, but there was a very offensive line-up with four strikers on the pitch. Carletto had to do something about it.

In the 104th minute, Dani Ceballos replaced the hero Benzema and ten minutes later Lucas Vázquez and Jesús Vallejo came on for Vinícius and Milito. But it wasn’t just Ancelotti’s decision.

“Ancelotti asked us more experienced players for their opinion on who he should send on in extra time. He could have ignored everything and decided for himself, but he asked us. This situation perfectly describes what kind of coach he is and why he can work so well with the team,” said Toni Kroos after the game.

Fans caught Ancelotti’s conversation with Kroos and Marcel, and Luka Modric and Karim Benzema certainly had their say. All four matadors and the four-time Champions League winners were very much in the end and gave their teammates a standing ovation.

The move for fourth-choice stopper Jesús Vallejo might have seemed like a very risky one, but Ancelotti had no choice with Alaba injured. He did, however, offer to move Carvajal to stopper, as it had worked out with Chelsea.

But the players trusted Vallejo, who had played only 7 minutes of the season before this weekend’s game against Espanyol, and he returned their confidence. In roughly eight minutes on the pitch, he won 5 duels out of 5, added three winning headers and helped Los Blancos advance to the final.

Source: Twitter, Real Madrid