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Carlo Ancelotti has explained how Real Madrid secretly targeted Kepa Arrizabalaga in their 2-0 second-leg UEFA Champions League quarterfinal win on April 18.
Los Blancos came into the return leg at Stamford Bridge with a 2-0 first-leg lead. Aiming to mount a heroic comeback, the west London giants started off the game really well.
However, the first half ended goalless, with Chelsea missing a number of gilt-edged chances. At the start of the second half, Federico Valverde was seen standing just behind Karim Benzema for the kick-off.
It seemed as if a set routine was about to take place. Ancelotti has now revealed that Real Madrid wanted to catch Kepa off his line and hoped to score with a long shot from the Uruguayan midfielder.
The Spanish goalkeeper was apparently spotted starting halves way off his goal line, which gave Ancelotti's side the impetus to target him. This time around, however, he was in a much more conservative position, spoiling Real Madrid's plans.
When asked about Valverde's peculiar positioning at kick-off, Ancelotti said at a pre-match presser (via 90min):
"We had seen in recent games that Kepa was left at the beginning of the game on the penalty spot and we thought that with a long shot from Valverde we could score."
Rodrygo scored two second-half goals to settle the tie in London. Ancelotti's aforementioned comments came at his pre-match press conference before the league tie against Girona yesterday (April 25). They went on to lose the game 4-2.
Los Merengues' chances of winning the La Liga title are now very slim. They are, however, active in Europe and are scheduled to take on Manchester City in the Champions League semifinals for the second consecutive season.
Chelsea midfielder lamented his team's missed chances in second-leg loss vs Real Madrid
Conor Gallagher, meanwhile, said that Chelsea created better chances than Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
The Blues managed 19 shots as compared to the visitors' nine. Their total xG (expected goals) amounted to 1.90 while Real Madrid's xG stood at 1.79, as per FotMob.
Both teams were neck-and-neck in the return leg in west London, with the Blues keeping 56% possession. Gallagher was left to rue his side's missed chances against the 14-time Champions League winners.
Following the loss against Real Madrid, the English midfielder said, via Firstpost:
"I feel like we played well and had a lot of chances, definitely more and better chances than they did. But football is all about taking your chances and we didn’t do that today."
Gallagher himself had a decent display. He managed two shots and created two goal-scoring chances for his teammates before being hooked in the 67th minute.
