Real Madrid kept their hopes alive of finishing inside the top 8 in the league phase standings with a comfortable 5-1 victory over RB Salzburg. It is also back-to-back Champions League wins for the defending champions, after their 3-2 success at Atalanta in December.
Real Madrid did not have the best start to proceedings, and the opening goal scored by Rodrygo Goes was actually their first shot on target. However, there was little panic from Carlo Ancelotti prior to this, as he told the media in the aftermath of Wednesday’s match at the Santiago Bernabeu (via Diario AS).
“We have achieved the objective. Win and try to play a good game. A little white at first, but then we fixed it well. Obviously, there is no doubt about the quality of what is up front. We tried to fix the rest. Because the efficiency we have up front is incredible. The other things have to be fixed. Sometimes we do it well and sometimes less so. But we’re on a good run.”
Mads Bidstrup scored a late consolation for Salzburg, which was a small blip on Real Madrid’s record of the match. However, this was not a concern for Ancelotti.
“I’m not angry about the goal. At the back we did well. Rudiger was very good today, Alaba is back, Asencio is fine. It is a collective problem. It is the key to this year. If we can have collective commitment we will be successful and we will be able to take advantage of the quality up front.”
One small area of concern for Real Madrid is Jude Bellingham, who was taken off early. The English midfielder appeared to be in pain on the bench after his substitution, and Ancelotti confirmed that it is a minor problem.
“He had a back problem, but nothing special. I had the possibility of taking minutes away from someone and I took it away from Bellingham and Mbappe to be fresher.”
Real Madrid take on Brest in their final match in the league phase, and a victory would give them a good chance of finishing inside the top 8, which would mean automatic progression to the last 16. However, they would need results to go their way for that to happen, given that they are currently in 16th.
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