Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was disappointed with his players’ attitude, calling them “soft” for defending too deep in their 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final, first leg on Tuesday.

Ancelotti was critical of his team’s commitment after Vinicius Jr’s first-half goal gave them the lead as Bayern struck twice in four minutes early in the second half to turn the game around before Vinicius equalised from the penalty spot.

“The result is good but on a level of play we could have done better. Bayern showed their best version and we didn’t. We have to improve for next week,” an introspective Ancelotti told Movistar Plus+.

“In the first half we defended but with little intensity, in the second half when they took the lead we started to press a bit more, but not enough.

“The feeling was that we were comfortable, but we lacked intensity. We gave them too many chances to take control of the game. We didn’t want to play in a low block and we went on doing that. We were soft.”

Ancelotti defended his decision to substitute midfielder Toni Kroos, who set up Vinicius’ opener with a brilliant pass and was arguably Real’s best player.

The Italian said that he made four substitutions in an effort to shake his team up and was relieved that they ended up scoring the equaliser that he believes “left the tie open” for the return leg in Madrid next week.

“Jude Bellingham had a cramp, Toni Kroos played a spectacular game but the plan was to try to recover the control of the game by putting fresh legs in,” Ancelotti told a press conference.

“As always, at this point in the season we have a great opportunity to play in another final. It’s an even tie against a great team. It will be another 90 minutes of suffering but in an atmosphere that we know quite well. The fans are going to help us.”

-Reuters

Bayern Munich were victims of Real Madrid’s lethal efficiency in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw but the Germans are ready to beat them in next week’s Champions League semi-final return leg in Madrid, coach Thomas Tuchel said.

The Bavarians struck twice in four minutes early in the second half with a shot from Leroy Sane and a Harry Kane penalty to turn the game around after Vinicius Jr had put the visitors ahead in the 24th against the run of play.

The Brazilian striker also bagged an equaliser with an 83rd minute spot kick as Bayern were pushing for a third goal.

“The result is what it is and it’s not worth spending any time thinking about it,” Tuchel, who will leave Bayern at the end of the season after a disappointing domestic campaign, told a press conference.

“Real have done it before, to score twice with two chances. We are not the first team to suffer that. They have the finish, they have the quality to do that.

“We had a strong start then we lost a bit our rhythm. We should have scored a third but we were not efficient enough, not cold enough to add a third. Then we gifted them a penalty.”

Bayern enjoyed a strong start and also had chances to score again after going 2-1 up. They will now need to win against Real, who are chasing a 15th European Cup, in Madrid next Wednesday if they are to advance to the final at Wembley.

Borussia Dortmund and Paris St Germain face each other in the other semi-final on Wednesday.

“The situation is now very clear,” Tuchel added. “We go to Madrid and the winner takes it all. We are ready to fight. It is important to believe that.

“It is still possible. It is 50-50. It is one of the toughest places to win but that is also what makes this challenge exciting.”

-Reuters

Tottenham Hotspur supporters would have had little sympathy for archrivals Arsenal after their Champions League quarter-final exit at the hands of Bayern Munich but they may not be laughing so hard come the end of the season.

Arsenal’s 3-2 aggregate defeat, combined with holders Manchester City’s penalty shoot-out loss to Real Madrid, did more than just rule out the possibility of an English club appearing in the Wembley showpiece on June 1.

Those defeats also gave Germany’s Bundesliga the edge over England’s Premier League in the race to secure an extra spot in next year’s expanded Champions League.

Until Wednesday’s wipe-out, England were fractionally behind Germany in UEFA’s co-efficient table, opens new tab — the system used to decide how many places a country is entitled to in Europe’s club competitions.

The top two nations in that table will be awarded five places, rather than four, in next season’s Champions League and with Italy secure in first place the battle between Germany and England was, until Wednesday, too close to call.

However, Germany now look favourites with Bayern Munich having joined Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals. Dortmund edged out Atletico Madrid in a thriller on Tuesday.

Italy are on 18.428 with Germany on 17.642 while England are on 16.875 and that is before Bayer Leverkusen’s Europa League quarter-final second leg against Premier League West Ham United taking place later on Thursday.

Newly-crowned Bundesliga champions Leverkusen lead 2-0 from the first leg and unless West Ham can pull off a shock comeback at the London Stadium, Germany’s advantage over England will be strengthened further, especially with Liverpool facing a 3-0 deficit in their Europa League quarter-final with Atalanta.

All that has huge implications in the Premier League and the battle for fourth place between Tottenham and Aston Villa.

Villa’s superb win at Arsenal last weekend, combined with Tottenham’s thrashing at Newcastle United, left Villa three points clear of the north London club, who until recently might have thought fifth place would be enough to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

That now looks increasingly unlikely, and with a horror run-in that includes games against Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, Tottenham’s hopes of playing among Europe’s elite next season are diminishing.

Tottenham could end up hoping that Aston Villa win the Europa Conference League as they might be the only English club left in Europe come Friday. They lead Lille 2-1 after the first leg of their quarter-final.

There is a similar battle for fourth spot taking place in the Bundesliga between Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, although it now looks as though both could be playing in the Champions League.

UEFA’s coefficient is based on the results from the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League with every win by a club from a nation worth two points and a draw one.

Bonus points are accrued by progressing through various stages of each competition with the total then divided by the number of teams from that nation in Europe.

-Reuters