Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola admits his side struggled to curtail Real Madrid’s pace during last night’s Champions League semi-final first leg tie at the Santiago Bernebeu.
The reigning European Champions maintained 72% of the possession but struggled to no avail to slot an equaliser home, as Carlo Ancelotti’s side spent a lot of time defending Karim Benzema’s solitary strike on 19 minutes.
Real’s cautious approach to the last-4 tie had them jam-pack their own half, while waiting to pounce on their opponents on the counter-attack, throughout the match.
Pep Guardiola Passes Instruction to David Alaba During Wednesday Night’s 1-0 Loss at Real Madrid.
Mario Goetze and Thomas Muller both had glaring chances to level scores for Bayern late on, but lacked precision.
“Madrid have athletes. They are footballers, but they are real athletes,” said Guardiola.
“It is easy to say we need to play more vertically, but the quicker we move the ball forward, the quicker it comes back and that can be very dangerous for us.”
The former Barcelona coach expects the ‘Los Blancos’ to stick with the same approach when they visit the Allianz Arena next Tuesday for the return leg.
Bayern have only lost twice at home this season- a 3-2 loss to Manchester City in the Group Stages of the Champions League and the 3-0 thrashing in the Bundesliga by Borussia Dortmund earlier this month.
“I think the next game will be exactly the same,” he added. We needed to control their counter-attacks, but is a question of finding the right balance.
“Madrid are a complete team and it is true that not scoring away from home makes the tie very difficult.
“However, we will be a home, with our fans behind us, and we will give everything to reach the final.”
Real boss Carlo Ancelotti says having to relinquish possession to the Germans for a large period of the encounter kept him on the edge of his sit all through the duration of the game.
“I don’t like to give up the ball,” Ancelotti said. “It is clear that you cannot control the ball for the whole game, but especially against Barca (in the Copa del Rey final) and Bayern it is very difficult to control it.
“Football, though, is not just about possession, but defending, counter-attacks and many other things. What we had tonight was the sacrifice of the players, but I don’t like not having the ball because you have less chances to score.”
He however expresses satisfaction with the performance of his charges, baring they had played without last summer’s record signing Gareth Bale for most of the proceedings and world footballer of the year Cristiano Ronaldo was just returning from a four-game hiatus.
“I’m happy with everything, because the match was difficult,” the Italian added. “We played well, suffering sometimes and playing well in attack.
“Without Gareth bale and with Cristiano Ronaldo at 50% it was not easy. The team worked well. Cristiano made an effort to play.
“The second leg is very difficult; we have a small advantage but we have to play with the same confidence and desire as we showed today. Nobody knows what can happen in Munich.”
by Greenstarnetwork admin..
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