It was mission accomplished, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday after his side fought back from two goals behind to snatch a rip-roaring 4-4 draw for a 5-4 aggregate win that put them through to the Copa del Rey final.
Ancelotti brushed off questions about a sub-par performance by his side and praised his players’ effort in what he considered a highly entertaining encounter.
“We have achieved our goal today which was to reach the final and there is not much time to think about it,” Ancelotti told a news conference. “It was an entertaining game with some mistakes and a lot of good things. It was fun and we are in the final.”
Photo: AFP
“I never saw ourselves out of it because anything can happen at the Bernabeu,” he said. “When we have to come from behind, we never give up. We never give up, especially at home, with the fans by our side.”
Ancelotti said that David Alaba was not to blame after he deflected two balls into his own goal, calling it “bad luck” by the Austrian defender, but urged his defense to play with better focus moving forward.
“It’s not good to concede four goals in a game,” Ancelotti said. “Right now we are a team that has a lot of effectiveness up-front, but little balance. However, we can’t ignore what we did in attack, scoring four goals against Real is not that easy. I think we are doing quite well.”
Photo: AFP
Real Madrid, who have won the Copa del Rey only once in more than a decade, are to play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid — who were to play after press time last night — in a mouth-watering final in Seville next month.
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