Coach Carlo Ancelotti warned his students that a 2-0 home win over Chelsea did not guarantee a ticket to Real Madrid.
Real Madrid took advantage of home field advantage to beat Chelsea 2-0 in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League 2022/23. Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Los Blancos, then Marco Asensio sealed the victory for the Bernabeu team.
With a 2-0 victory in the first leg, Real Madrid took a huge advantage before the second leg at Stamford Bridge. Speaking after the game, coach Carlo Ancelotti warned the players. “We played a very good game at home, and we need to do it again in London to reach the semi-finals,” he said.
“Real’s goal was to create an advantage before the second leg, and we did. Chelsea are a very good team, but today we made better use of the opportunities we had. We worked very hard to get the ball back and I want to be at Stamford Bridge too.”
“We are pleased with the result and the performance of our players, but the ticket to the semi-finals is yet to be determined. We have to fight and die for another 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea will try their best. Next week, we will have to try harder than them.”
After an important and difficult victory, Ancelotti had special praise for Valverde, saying: “He is probably the best player on the pitch. Valverde played with energy and helped us a lot defensively, he deserves all the credit.”