Carlo Ancelotti says what Real Madrid must do to beat Man City in Champions League second leg

Carlo Ancelotti has said Real Madrid will progress to the final of the Champions League if they defend better in the second leg against Manchester City next week.

The two teams played out a breathless seven-goal thriller at the Etihad on Tuesday, with City winning 4-3 on the night.

While it was an encounter that will be remembered for some incredible offensive football, there were several questionable moments from both sides defensively.

It’s something Ancelotti was far from happy with after the game, and he claimed that if his side can defend as a unit in next Wednesday’s reverse meeting at the Bernabeu, they’ll make it to the Paris final next month.

“I think recently we have conceded a lot of goals but have injected  a lot of energy,” the former Everton and Chelsea manager said in the post-match press conference.

“We played an open game but maybe that’s because our opponents have scored early. We compete well when games are open but I think in the second game, if we defend better we’ll win. But if we defend like that we could be out.

“It’s a defeat that leaves us alive in the Bernabeu in the second leg. We need to be better defensively and we believe we can create problems for them in the second leg.

“It will be a different game [in the second leg,” he added. “Manchester City have the advantage, a big one. We hope our supporters can help us get to the final. We are going to fight for another magical night.”

Ancelotti’s assessment of the first leg

While Ancelotti was left frustrated with how his side started at the Etihad - and they were 2-0 down within 11 minutes - the experienced manager was pleased with how his side responded after the early setback.

“My feeling is we started poorly,” Ancelotti told reporters. “We were too soft and we let in two goals. From there the team showed what they’ve shown in the last periods.

“We reacted well and were in the game. It’s clear that we need to defend better. We were good with the ball, made chances and in end-to-end games you need to defend better. That’s really important.

“I was a little frustrated. The first half we lost a lot of individual duels. If we’d taken a bit of care we could have stopped those goals. We reacted well and leave the second leg alive.”