Real Madrid manager Carlos Ancelotti praised his team's "quality, experience, energy and commitment" after defeating Liverpool 6-2 on aggregate to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The holders were in pole position to progress to the last eight after the first-leg 5-2 victory at Anfield, and avoided what Ancelotti described as a "banana skin" by winning the return match 1-0 at the Bernabeu in Madrid, Karim Benzema's 78th-minute goal proving the difference on the night.
It was the third consecutive year Real Madrid had ended Liverpool's Champions League hopes.
"We have so much quality, experience, energy and commitment as a group," Ancelotti said. "We're a modern team because we have all of those attributes. [Luka] Modric and [Tooni] Kroos played brilliantly because they brought the ball out from the back so well and really helped us keep the game under control. Modric and Kroos don't play because of the careers they've had, they play because they deserve to."
Real Madrid defeated Liverpool in the Champions League final last season to secure their 14th European Cup and fifth in the past eight years. On that occasion at the Stade de France, the Spanish giants could count themselves somewhat fortuitous to come away with a 1-0 victory as goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois produced a sensational performance.
Fast forward nearly 10 months and there were no doubts about which team was superior, despite Liverpool racing into a 2-0 lead inside 14 minutes of the first leg.
“Last year gave us so much more confidence and you could see that in this tie, across both games against a very strong side," Ancelotti said. "Now we have to play in the quarter-finals and there are surprises in there like the Italian teams, who nobody expected to get this far. The Champions League is very tough and you have to compete and fight to the end."
The Italian manager reserved special praise for two players in particular, describing Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior, whose cut back pass set up Benzema's goal, as "the best in the world", while Spanish defender Nacho "delivered a top class performance. It isn't easy to play against [Mohamed] Salah and he did a brilliant job".
Real Madrid v Liverpool player ratings
-
REAL MADRID RATINGS: Thibaut Courtois – 7. Made some strong saves to deny Nunez and Gakpo and came out to collect balls well. Recovered after dropping Robertson’s free-kick delivery. AP -
Dani Carvajal – 6. Got himself out of trouble after a mistake and went on to do a good job defensively, even if he did needlessly concede a corner with a bizarre header. AP -
Eder Militao – 7. Put in a strong display after getting away with a poor pass, notably cutting out Salah’s pass in a dangerous position. AP -
Antonio Rudiger – 7. Clumsy in the build-up to Liverpool’s early chance but was often in the right place after that. Had some promising moments going forward with a header to Vinicius before making a good run and pass to Nacho. AFP -
Nacho Fernandez – 7. Stretched by Salah at times but put in a determined display to ensure Los Blancos kept a clean sheet. Reuters -
Luka Modric – 8. Smashed a rocket over the crossbar but was his usual elegant self, notably flicking the ball over Alexander-Arnold’s head and delivering a brilliant cross for Valverde. PA -
Eduardo Camavinga – 9. Brilliant to watch in the middle of the pitch with some lovely passing, including the ball that split Liverpool open for the goal. Unlucky to see his shot from range tipped onto the crossbar. Reuters -
Toni Kroos – 7. Played a couple of poor passes when there were opportunities to play the forwards through but helped the hosts control large parts of the game. PA -
Federico Valverde – 5. Wasteful in promising positions, with some disappointing shots being denied, an underwhelming cross being blocked by Van Dijk and a header going over. Did show plenty of energy. PA -
Karim Benzema – 7. Had some disappointing moments but eventually came good when he poked the ball home for the winner on the night. AFP -
Vinicius Junior – 7. Played some great passes to get Benzema into promising positions, even if his ball for the goal wasn’t quite as eye catching. Brought out some lovely tricks. Getty -
SUBS: Rodrygo (Benzema 82’) – N/R. Did well to get into the box but ultimately saw his shot blocked by Tsimikas. Reuters -
Dani Ceballos (Modric 82’) – N/R. Looked very confident and played the ball through for Lucas Vazquez to tee up Rodrygo for his chance. AP -
Marco Asensio (Vinicius 84’) – N/R. Came on late as Real Madrid comfortably saw out the game. Getty -
Aurelien Tchouameni (Kroos 84’) – N/R. Slotted into the midfield as Real maintained control for most of the latter stages. Getty -
Lucas Vazquez (Carvajal 86’) – N/R. Did well to get into the box and tee up Rodrygo for his chance. Getty -
LIVERPOOL RATINGS: Alisson Becker – 8. Made superb saves to deny Vinicius and Camavinga, before rushing out to authoritatively halt Valverde. There was nothing he could do about the goal. AFP -
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6. Showed ambition with his passes, even if they didn’t always come off. Had a tough task defending against Vinicius, although he showed great defensive instincts to block Benzema’s shot. EPA -
Ibrahima Konate – 7. Started well with a couple of good early interventions and continued to have strong moments throughout. Hit a wild shot on the turn. AP -
Virgil van Dijk – 6. Did brilliantly to cut out Valverde’s ball but it can be argued he wasn’t alert enough for the goal. PA -
Andrew Robertson – 6. Could consider himself unlucky at times, having delivered some great crosses that nobody latched onto and lost control after cutting out Militao’s pass. Reuters -
Fabinho – 5. Played some sloppy passes at times, as was epitomised when he delivered an overhit cross when there were plenty of red shirts in Real’s box. AP -
James Milner – 6. Showed plenty of energy and flew out to make blocks, as well as putting in a big tackle on Camavinga. However, he couldn’t do enough to get Liverpool going. EPA -
Cody Gakpo – 6. Put in a lot of good defensive work to help the team, including dispossessing Benzema in his own box, but couldn’t get a clean connection on his header and saw a strong shot saved. AP -
Mohamed Salah – 6. Slipped Nunez through for an early chance and made some good runs behind, but played a terrible pass to Nunez in a dangerous position. EPA -
Diogo Jota – 3. His miskicked effort from a cross into the box was poor and he often looked off the pace. AFP -
Darwin Nunez – 6. Showed a willingness to work but was unable to take his early chance and saw a header saved. AFP -
SUBS: Harvey Elliott (Jota 57’) – 6. Tried to make things happen and was central to a nice piece of link-up play but also saw a tame shot blocked. PA -
Roberto Firmino (Nunez 57’) – 5. Willing to work for the team but never truly looked like making a notable difference. Getty -
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (Milner 73’) – N/R. His expression after being unable to reach Robertson’s through ball epitomised Liverpool’s desperate situation. Getty -
Kostas Tsimikas (Robertson 91’) – N/R. Had an eventful cameo, blocking Rodrygo’s shot and being the topic of a lengthy VAR check when the ball subsequently hit his arm, then getting booked for catching Ceballos in the face with his hand. Getty -
Fabio Carvalho (Gakpo 91’) – N/R. Had a less eventful cameo with the game gone. PA
Ancelotti also said the key to Real Madrid's success has been the squad's blend of experience and youth, with established stars such as Benzema, Modric, and Kroos playing alongside exciting young talents like Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde, and Vinicius.
"The players create the atmosphere thanks to their intelligence and humility," he said. "The veterans' humility is so important because they don't have egos. Then it's also important that the young players are patient because they know they have guys who have had fantastic careers ahead of them."
One minor concern from the victory was Benzema appearing to pick up an injury while scoring but Ancelotti insisted it was nothing serious.
"It's a knock," he said. "He was feeling a bit sore and it hurts a little, but I think he'll recover without any problems for Sunday."
