By Fernando Kallas
MADRID (Reuters) – Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said that he understands the club fans booying him and his team in their 5-2 win over Celta Vigo in their Copa del Rey round of 16 clash on Thursday, which he sees as an act of frustration after a humiliating 5-2 loss to rivals Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday.
Ancelotti said he was glad that his side showed character to not be affected by their fans’ anger and advance to the quarter-finals on Thursday, after they allowed Celta to recover from two goals down to level the game 2-2 in the final minutes and take it to extra-time, when Brazilian teenager Endrick struke twice to help Real advance.
“I see it as a wake-up call from the fans to the team and its coach. It’s an acceptable wake-up call after what happened in the game against Barcelona. Afterwards the team reacted well,” Ancelotti told a press conference.
“The fans booed to give us a wake-up call and then later because the team started to complicate a game that we were well on the way to winning with 2-0. But then the fans started to push and when the Santiago Bernabeu pushes it’s something very special for us.
“Good thing we played well in extra-time and managed to win the match, so it was all good in the end.”
Ancelotti lamented his side’s missed opportunities to extend their lead in the second half and urged his players to maintain focus in the final minutes of games.
“The tension drops at the end. We made two mistakes and let our opponents back into the game, we left it open in a game that was practically over with two goals in front,” Ancelotti said.
“We gifted our rivals two late goals when the game was almost over. First we made a bad mistake putting the ball in play and then in the second goal it was a result of bad positioning in defence. We had played really well for over 70 minutes.
“Obviously that’s something that can’t happen. We have to try to train more to avoid these types of mistakes and not to slow down at the end of games.”
Real joined Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Getafe, Leganes, Valencia, Osasuna and Real Sociedad in the quarter-finals which will be determined in a draw on Monday.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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