Carlo Ancelotti says 'Ronaldo is back now', also praises new signing Lucas Silva

Ronaldo celebrates his goal with Marcelo and Lucas Silva

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has praised Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance against Schalke in Wednesday’s 2-0 Champions League round-of-16 first leg win saying Ronaldo was ‘back now.’ Ronaldo scored in the match, breaking his three match goalless streak.

Madrid put in a professional shift, never threatening a repeat of last season’s 6-1 demolition at the Veltins Arena, but were in full control of the match after Ronaldo’s first-half header put the Los Blancos in front. Marcelo doubled the lead with a spectacular strike late on.

Ronaldo put an end to his three match goal drought and also provided the assist for Marcelo’s spectacular finish.

Ancelotti in the post-match press conference said that no one at Real Madrid ever doubted the eventuality of Ronaldo regaining his form.

He said, “Cristiano was born to score goals. Between us and the team, we had no problems if Cristiano does not score for one or two games. Sooner or later he was going to score. He played a good game, scored a goal and gave an assist. He is back now. He is improving like all the team. The reaction until now was good.”

The win makes the reigning champions overwhelming favourites to progress to the next round of the tournament ahead of the return leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on March 10.

However, the Italian admitted that his team were far from their absolute best, after the recent dip in domestic form.

He said, “I am happy as it is never easy. After what has happened in La Liga we needed to play a game like this with good attitude and good play. The game was not at a very high intensity as Schalke sat back from the start and wanted to hit on the break. We did not need a very high rhythm. We were patient and after the first goal we had good control, and were able to take our opportunity.”

On why he celebrated Marcelo’s cracking right foot finish with the Brazilian, Ancelotti said, “"It is not usual to see Marcelo shoot with his right foot. That was a surprise, and why I ran on to celebrate on the pitch.”

Ancelotti pleasantly surprised by new signing Lucas Silva

Ancelotti made a surprise change to his team on the night by leaving out Asier Illaramendi and giving €14 million January signing Lucas Silva his first start for Real Madrid.

Ancelotti said, “I put in Lucas Silva because he was fresher. He showed order and personality on the pitch, playing simply, but with good ideas. In this way he surprised me. It is not easy to make your debut for Madrid aged 22 like that, in a Champions League game. He showed pretty surprising personality.”

Ancelotti also expressed his happiness on the return of experienced defender Pepe, who missed six games with a rib injury. He said, “You could see Pepe's experience, his personality. He leads the way. He was important for us today.”