Real Madrid will attack Liverpool this week rather than try to defend their first-leg knockout round advantage in the Champions League, manager Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday. Holders Madrid beat Liverpool 5-2 at Anfield in February, with Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior scoring twice, along with a header from Eder Militao after the hosts took a two-goal lead. Despite the three-goal lead, Ancelotti said his side must focus on beating the visitors at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals.
“It’s very simple, we don’t have to do any calculations, we just try to play as well as we can, try to play a game like we did in the first leg,” Ancelotti told reporters.
“Our ideal is not to make calculations, we have to play with maximum intensity, with maximum hope, trying to win the game.”
The Italy manager believes the clash will be an open game as Liverpool need to make a great comeback while his team won’t sit back and defend.
“We looked at what we did in the first leg, we did a lot of things well, especially in attack,” said Ancelotti.
“We’re not going to play a game to think about our advantage, we’re going to play our football and attack football.
“Tomorrow will be an open game, Liverpool will try to change the dynamic of the duel, so we have to do two things well – defend and attack.”
Madrid striker Benzema missed Saturday’s La Liga win against Espanyol with an ankle problem but is fit again.
“Yes, tomorrow he’s at 100 percent, he trained on Sunday, he did good sessions, he’s in top form, motivated – it’s a very important competition for Karim and for the club,” said Ancelotti.
Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger said the side needed to defend better than they did at Anfield when Liverpool scored two early goals through Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah.
“Not sleeping in the first 15 minutes is very important to me, as is finding the right balance,” Ruediger told reporters.
“It’s very important for us, not just to come and defend and say ‘OK, we have a three-goal advantage’, we also have to please our fans and gain confidence.”
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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