Real Madrid held onto a 1-1 draw to Manchester City in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal on Tuesday night. The Merengues had the home advantage, but it was Pep Guardiola’s team that dominated the proceedings for the most part.

Viniciuds Jr opened the scoring with a bullet strike into the top corner in the first half. Kevin de Bruyne, however, spoilt Los Blancos’ party with a stunning equaliser after the break.

Heading into the second leg next week, nothing less than a win will suffice for the defending champions. Carlo Ancelotti spoke about the plan ahead and the display on Tuesday, amongst other topics, in his post-match press conference. Here are the snippets from his interaction.

The Italian tactician opened his presser with an overview of the game that unfolded against the Premier League champions and maintained that his side deserved more for the manner in which they played.

“We deserved to win. We managed the game well.”

Erling Haaland has been the centre-piece of Guardiola’s setup this season, scoring more than 50 goals in his first season at the club. Ancelotti, however, stressed that Real Madrid did not place any special emphasis on the Norweigan international.

“We didn’t focus on Haaland. Modrić, Kroos, Valverde did very well with the task to stop Gundogan & De Bruyne between lines.”

The calendar has been ruthless towards Real Madrid at the tail-end of the season. Speaking about his men taking to the field less than three days after the Copa del Rey final, the coach said,

“Even though we just played on Saturday at midnight [the Copa del Rey final]. I have to give credit to the lads because they were really good tonight despite having a bit of rest between the two games.”

The Italian coach had special words for Antonio Rudiger who filled in for the suspended Eder Militao in the starting lineup. The German managed six defensive actions in the game and was critical in keeping Haaland silent.

“Rudiger? He was very good. He’s a player with a lot of experience and high quality. It wasn’t easy, but he played very well.”

Kevin de Bruyne’s equaliser in the second half was a deserved one for Manchester City considering the manner in which they played.

However, there was a moment in the buildup that sparked controversy when Bernardo Silva seemingly failed to keep the ball in play. Ancelotti gave his two cents on the situation.

“beIN showed the ball was out. We all saw it, 3D technology. But VAR didn’t see it.”

The Real Madrid coach also showered praise on Eduardo Camavinga for his performance and gave an insight into how he likes to utilise the player and maximise his output.

“Sometimes we try to make him play in his natural position instead of full back because as a player he likes to play deep and can create problems for the opponent, especially in the second half where he was playing more from the inside and helping Vini.”

Speaking about what had to improve about the performance heading into the second leg at Etihad, Ancelotti highlighted the possession disparity as his primary concern.

“In the first 20 minutes we could have done better but we were in good control of the ball, and then we started to take control of things. We had to find the ball more and try to have possession of it, which we will try to improve in the second leg.”