Juventus, Madrid contemplate game of two halves
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
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While Antonio Conte thought Juventus had "played very well, especially in the first half", Carlo Ancelotti was "feeling satisfied" with Real Madrid CF's showing in the second period.
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Antonio Conte, Juventus coach
My team played a great game tonight – we played very well especially in the first half, just like we had planned to. It's the sixth game in 18 days for us and it's normal to be a little tired. Of course when you feel tired against players like [goalscorers Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Gareth] Bale it's tough, but despite this we did well. I think Iker Casillas was the man of the match tonight.
We deserve more points than we have, but when you face a team like Real Madrid, who have players that can turn the match around in a few minutes, there's not much you can do. I am happy because I saw my players fighting on the pitch, they were brave, they did not fear Real Madrid and this is what we have to do because we are growing up. We know we have a lot of hard work to do, but we proved on the pitch that we can close the gap on the greatest teams. We started this journey not long ago and if you think about that then you have to congratulate my team.
We can play at their level – we had already proved that in Madrid two weeks ago. We have something to say in this competition. I think we feel stronger after this game. We recognise that it's only the pitch that it's decided who is going to win or lose.
Carlo Ancelotti, Madrid coach
I'm leaving here feeling satisfied with my team's second-half performance. The reaction was very good on our part. After the break we were much better in terms of courage and aggression. We defended very deep in the first half in order to control [Paul] Pogba and [Claudio] Marchisio. We changed later in the game, with things improving after the restart.
We wanted to limit their ability to cross and with the help of Sergio Ramos we were more comfortable. Ramos is a great player who can play in a variety of positions. Playing him [on the right] was a temporary move as I know he prefers to play in the centre. He played out wide without problems tonight, however. I also think that [Karim] Benzema worked very hard [picking up] Andrea Pirlo.
