Ancelotti: “We were under a lot of pressure, but we defended well, we are Real and we never die”

Carlo Ancelotti stressed that Real started well and took the lead, but were put under a lot of pressure by Manchester City afterwards, was confident they would go to penalties, praised Pep Guardiola’s attitude after the match and the fact he was happy to see for his players to fight throughout the match and believes that there is no physical condition problem ahead of Sunday’s clasico with Barcelona.

Analytically: “We started the match well, we took the lead and then we started to suffer, to fight, to sacrifice ourselves. We were playing defense outside our area, City were in control, but overall I think we defended well. What Real did, we have seen it several times in the past, which is to achieve something that nobody thought we could do.

In the penalty shootout, we were convinced that we would qualify. Obviously I also like it when I see my team fighting and fighting, apart from the quality they have. That’s the only way you can win on this pitch. Guardiola congratulated me on qualifying and wished me luck. He was a gentleman, as he usually is.

We have no fitness issues and we have enough time until Sunday to recover, we will sleep here to calm down and realize what we have achieved tonight. Everyone thought we were ‘dead’, but you shouldn’t consider Real Madrid ‘dead’ because Real Madrid never dies.”