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Carlo Ancelotti speaks on how Real Madrid thwarted Erling Haaland in the first leg.
Carlo Ancelotti praised Antonio Rudiger’s performance against Erling Haaland in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening.
On Tuesday night, the German defender faced up against Haaland, who came into the match in superb form having scored 17 goals in his previous 12 appearances across all competitions.
However, Real Madrid’s defence kept the forward strangely quiet throughout the first leg of Man City’s UEFA Champions League semifinal match against the Los Blancos at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Haaland had the fewest touches of the ball all night, only 21, the fewest of any player on the field, and completed six less passes than his goalkeeper, Ederson.
Speaking to BT Sport after the game, manager Ancelotti was quick to praise Rudiger for keeping the in-form Norweigen at bay:
“Defensively we were good. Rudiger against Haaland did well and the midfield had control. The performance was good and we are happy. We have strong motivation for the next game.”
Ancelotti also gave a general appraisal of the game, stating that he was happy with his side’s second-half showing after a ‘difficult’ first half:
“An interesting game. Difficult for us in the first half and the second half was much better. We had good control in the game.
“When they had lots of possession we were in control defensively then when we started to play the ball we caused difficulties. We had to keep our positions defensively then when we got the opportunity, we scored the first goal. [It was] a great strike, a fantastic moment. The team played well. I am satisfied.”
The second leg of Real Madrid’s Champions League semi-final will be played at the Etihad Stadium the following Wednesday after their match against Getafe on Saturday.