Carlo Ancelotti post-game press conference after Real Madrid’s Champions League win over Union Berlin

The Italian coach spoke after Jude Bellingham’s late strike gave Real Madrid all three points in their Champions League opener.

Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the press after Jude Bellingham scored the winner for Real Madrid against Union Berlin in the first game of their group stage in the UEFA Champions League. Here is what he had to say:

His thoughts on the game and if Tchouaméni has a goals target: I haven’t given anyone a goals target. The game was expected to be like this, complicated, with a lot of control against a low block that defended well. They didn’t leave us any spaces. We were good in the recovery of the ball, and on set-pieces. We could have scored before. But the fact of scoring at the end is importnat. It’s the spirit of this shirt. A draw and I’d have said the same, because the team showed up right until the end.

What is special about Bellingham? : He has quality. That’s very important. It seems like he’s lucky, because the goal is similar to the one against Getafe, but he was there. He almost always arrives late and he is more intelligent that others.

The team picked up in the second half... We fixed some things at the break. The truth is simple: in the second half we played against a team that pressed less. In the second half the energy levels drop a little and we had more space and more chances. The good thing is that today we didn’t have to come back from behind. It means we were more focussed. The counter-press was very good and our dead ball situations. They are strong on dead balls and with second balls.

What’s lacking with Rodrygo? : For him, these games are more complicated. He’s very good on an open pitch and here the spaces are smaller. He didn’t have a chance to play with an open pitch. He was