Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti believes his side can overcome a 2-1 deficit to reach the Champions League final against Juventus despite seeing their La Liga title hopes all but extinguished by a 2-2 draw with Valencia on Saturday.
The European champions are now four points behind league leaders Barcelona with just two games left to play and have to come from behind against Ancelotti’s old side at home on Wednesday to keep their season alive.
“We need to be positive and value how well we played in this match,” said the Italian.
“Our small errors are costing us dearly at the moment, but we need to have the cool head and confidence necessary to come back.”
Some poor defending allowed Paco Alcacer and Javi Fuego to give Valencia a 2-0 lead inside 25 minutes.
Madrid struck the woodwork through Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Javier Hernandez before Ronaldo also saw a penalty saved by Diego Alves on the stroke of half-time.
Alves produced another string of fine saves after the break, but the hosts did at least salvage a point through Pepe’s towering header and an excellent curling strike from Isco.
“There are two games to go, we need to win them, but obviously it is more difficult,” to win the league said Ancelotti.
“The result isn’t good, but the performance was the complete opposite. We had a lot of chances, hit the post three times, missed a penalty, sometimes it just isn’t enough.
“We’ll take a lot of positives from the game and if we play like that on Wednesday it will go well.”
Ancelotti was also upbeat about Madrid’s injury problems ahead of the visit of the Italian champions in midweek.
Toni Kroos hobbled off midway through the first-half against Valencia, but Ancelotti is confident of having the German World Cup winner and the French international duo of Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane fit for Wednesday.
“Kroos had a knock in his hip, it didn’t seem like a muscular problem, so we are quite positive. The same goes for Karim.
“Varane had a fever during the night, so he was quite tired. Tomorrow he will be able to train normally.”
And Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal believes the atmosphere of a big European night at the Bernabeu will make the difference.
“We conceded twice on two attacks and that marked the course of the game. We were the better side, but two moments cost us the match. With a bit of luck we would have won, but you have to congratulate Diego Alves, who has won his side a point,” said the Spanish international.
“The fans were with us till the end, they never gave up. You will see a raucous Bernabeu that will give everything to go through.
“We are playing for our season and the Bernabeu will be the 12th man.”
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
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