Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio led Real Madrid to a special 2-0 win over Chelsea to put their side in the driver’s seat to advance to the semifinal of the UCL. Carlo Ancelotti chose to deploy his strongest available lineup for the critical encounter, and it is safe to say that it paid off great dividends.
The second leg at Stamford Bridge next week will decide who goes through. However, the gap in quality between the two sides was conspicuous on Wednesday and one knows the chances of Real Madrid letting an advantage slip is minimal.
Thibaut Courtois was one of the first to give his pitch-side reaction to the result and highlighted why the 2-0 win was a great result though many felt the team should have pushed for more.
“When you’re playing against 10 you get the feeling we could have killed the tie with another goal or two. They could have headed away having snatched a goal in the final minute but Rüdiger put in a stunning block.”
The goalkeeper acknowledged that Los Blancos had golden chances to extend their lead on the night to kill off the tie, but instead used that as an impetus to push his men for the second leg next week.
“It was a difficult game and 2-0 is a good result. We’re slightly frustrated not to have got the third or fourth goal and we know the return leg will be tough. I hope we don’t regret having failed to score another.”
He then commented on the vital saves he was forced to make on the night, the first set of which came in the opening minutes when Chelsea mounted a strong start. Later on, he again sprung to action when the English side pushed for an equaliser when a goal down.
“They started well with some good counter-attacks but I managed to make a couple of good stops before the goal. At 1-1, it would have been a blow mentally, I’m pleased with my save from Sterling, I did well to keep it out.”
Courtois has words of praise for the four defenders ahead of him and their contribution to the clean sheet on the night.
“We put in a complete performance from a defensive perspective and we didn’t allow them many chances, aside from in the final minute. We should have kept the ball better there in the last couple of minutes of the game to ensure they didn’t get the chance to score.”
Finally, the Belgian International spoke about the importance of mental fortune and complete determination for the second leg to prevent a collapse or scare like the one that unfolded last season.
“We have to approach the second leg as if it were a draw, like in the match against Barça in the Copa. We have to go into it with a winning mentality. If you go into it to speculate, they could pull two back and the tie will be all level like what happened last year.
“In that game we didn’t start well, they quickly took the lead and that can get them back into the tie. I hope we start the game better there and score first.”
