Ancelotti accepts Madrid criticism
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Article summary
"We failed in many respects," said Carlo Ancelotti despite Real Madrid CF's progress to the quarter-finals, Roberto Di Matteo coming to terms with falling just short.
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Article body
• Madrid through 5-4 on aggregate despite 4-3 loss at home to Schalke
• Carlo Ancelotti accepts fans' whistles: "We failed in many respects"
• Mixed feelings for Schalke coach Roberto Di Matteo after last-16 exit
Carlo Ancelotti, Madrid coach
I'm so sorry because, as everyone has seen, we played very badly. It's not good for the club. We deserve the whistles [of the fans] but they will motivate us more. I still trust this team because I know what they can give. We have to work more.
Nobody likes these kind of games. We tried to fix the defensive problems [at half-time] because we were not well organised. We failed in many respects.
I don't think about being fired. I have to do better and make the team play better than tonight. We were under pressure until the last minute. Anything could have happened.
The players and myself are the key to fixing this. We lost confidence in our game and our identity, so we can't play how we want. We are professionals and we never look ridiculous. We play badly, make mistakes but never look ridiculous.
Things change very fast in football. Nobody could have imagined something like this in December. The fans showed us their support because their whistles will wake us up. Luka Modrić's return gave us more control in possession. We can ask a lot of him because he has been out for three months. He did well and will help us a lot in the future, like Sergio Ramos will do.
Roberto Di Matteo, Schalke coach
We played a great game and we dreamt of going through. We scored four goals against Real Madrid but we are not going through to the next round. We are happy, but also sad. We had a little bit of bad luck, we hit the post in both games.
Cristiano Ronaldo made the difference in the first leg and also tonight. We made things difficult for Madrid. The atmosphere was not easy for them. Ancelotti is still a top, world-class coach.
We didn't allow them to dictate the game and it's not easy to play under pressure. Real Madrid have a very good coach that knows perfectly what he has to do.
Our team is young but they gave everything tonight and we feel good. We scored four goals and played bravely. When Real Madrid play everybody expects a victory. There is a lot of pressure here and supporters have the right to show their opinion.