Carlo Ancelotti gave a candid, albeit a tad blunt, exposure of his preparations for the Champions League final after leading Real Madrid to a 1-0 victory over Liverpool at the Stade de France on Saturday.
The 4-time Champions League winning Italian doyen actually made a bold claim that Liverpool were actually “easier to decipher” than the other teams Real Madrid had faced en route to Champions League glory in Paris.
Los Blancos had a stellar run to the final, defeating Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, then went on to vanquish then-defending European champions Chelsea and subsequently Premier League champions Manchester City to emerge victors at the Stade de France. The Spanish giants had to ewbound from heavy pressure and come from behind against all three of those opponents and had Karim Benzema largely to thank for his scintillating 10 goals in the knockout stages.
Many suspect Real Madrid were fortunate to book their spot in the final and this did not escape Ancelotti’s attention in the build-up to Saturday night’s showdown. However, speaking after Vinicius Junior thundered his side to a irreversible 1-0 triumph and a 14th continental crown, the Italian manager declared it was relatively simple to prepare for the Reds compared to previous opponents.
“Looking back, people said PSG were unlucky, Chelsea were unlucky, Manchester City were unlucky,” Ancelotti told reporters. “This was practically the only game where people thought we were more or less on the same level.
“I think it helped that Liverpool were easier to decipher than the others, because they have a very clear identity and we could prepare the way that we did. We knew what strategy to take – don’t give them space behind the defence to run into. xx “Perhaps our football wasn’t extraordinarily beautiful on an aesthetic level, but playing out from the back to incentivise their pressing wasn’t a great idea. We had a few more long balls, then we got to control the ball more, especially in the second half.”
Madrid’s endeavors were essentially a textbook counter-attacking performance in the final, weathering a heavy onslaught of Liverpool dominance in the first half before Vinicius scored the winner just before the hour mark from Federico Valverde’s cross. The Brazilian’s goal came from one of two shots on target for Real Madrid on the night, whereas Liverpool registered nine.
Of course it was unsurprising in the least to see Thibaut Courtois named man of the match after the Belgian goalkeeper was absolutely sublime, almost magical, as he made a number of breathtaking saves to preserve his clean sheet. The pick of these saw him deny Sadio Mane in the first half and Mohamed Salah in the 83rd minute as the Reds pressed for an equaliser.
Real Madrid’s triumph saw them complete a double of the Champions League and La Liga, while Ancelotti pulled clear of Zinedine Zidane and Bob Paisley by winning Europe’s premier competition for a record-breaking fourth time to cement his place as one of the greatest ever managers.