Carlo Ancelotti says Liverpool provided Real Madrid with their easiest tactical plan of their run to lifting a record-extending 14th Champions League title.
Real produced a stunning comeback to knock Manchester City out in the semi-finals, having already come back to beat Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in an impressive knockout run. In the final, they withstood Liverpool's early pressure before restricting Jurgen Klopp's side and then defending Vinicius Jr's only goal to win the title. A stunning individual performance from goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois stopped Liverpool whenever they breached Real's stubborn defence.
Speaking after the game, Ancelotti claimed Liverpool were easier to beat than City were in the previous round, and he explained the tactical differences between the top two Premier League sides.
“Looking back, people said 'oh PSG were unlucky, Chelsea were unlucky, Manchester City were unlucky'," he explained.
"This was practically the only game where people thought we were more or less on the same level. I think it helped that Liverpool were easier to decipher than the others because they have a very clear identity and we could prepare the way that we did.
“We knew what strategy to take, don’t give them space behind the defence to run into. Perhaps our football wasn’t extraordinarily beautiful tonight on an aesthetic level, but playing out from the back to incentivise their pressing wasn’t a great idea.
“We had a few more long balls, then when their press in our half of the pitch lessened, we got to control the ball more especially in the second half.”
With Real winning their 14th Champions League title, and Ancelotti setting a new record to win his fourth, the Italian praised his side's fans and insisted they were deserved winners of another European Cup.
He said: “We suffered a lot, more at the start, better second half. I think in the end, with all the games that we played, we deserved to win this competition.
“I think that we passed through a really difficult game every game, the supporters helped us a lot, in the last game [vs City] and tonight. We are really happy, honestly, what can I say? I cannot say more."
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