Real Madrid beat their city rivals Atletico Madrid 2-0 (football news) at Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, retaining a 13-point lead. After both Madrid teams’ coaches, Carlo Ancelotti and Diego Simeone made several changes yesterday, each have discussed the subsequent outcome. So, after Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio scored for Real Madrid, Ancelotti and Simeone react to Sunday night’s Madrid derby.
“To win a derby is very important to our fans and I bet they left the stadium really happy,” Asensio told reporters.
“Vinicius is playing really well, we are delighted with his progression this season. He is doing it all, scoring, assisting. We are all happy for him.”
Ancelotti and Simeone React to Sunday Night’s Madrid Derby
“We were effective,” said coach Carlo Ancelotti after the match, while adding his team were now clear La Liga favourites.
The Real Madrid head coach: “We had solidity at the back. They played a lot of long balls, they tried to get in behind with Correa, we were a bit surprised that they played 4-4-2 so we had to push a bit more with our fullbacks, but after the first goal we controlled the game.
“We’re favourites today, you can say that, of course. We’ve done well, better than the others. We’re focused on the next games, dropping off mentally can cost you. We’re doing well, we have to keep going, that is the only way to get closer to winning sooner.”
Ancelotti had praise for Modric and others after the game: “Modric, the three points, the solidity at the back, the clean sheet, Courtois, Vinicius… there was a lot.
“[Modric] played a spectacular game in every sense, with the ball, without the ball, with personality and character, he’s an extraordinary player.”
However, Real Madrid’s 2-0 victory means Atletico Madrid have now gone 11 La Liga derbies without a win. This is a run stretching back to 2016.
And after the game, Atleti boss Diego Simeone admitted his side were up against a team at its best, in its best form.
Simeone said: “In football being clinical is the most important thing. Madrid are absolutely clinical at the moment. They get a chance, and they score. From there, the game starts to change. We had some chances at the start of the second half, and then they used the counter-attack well and scored a great goal, and won the game fairly.”
