Coach Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo and several other players of Real Madrid have commented on the Juventus match, saying their team deserved to go through to the semi-finals.
They also said the penalty given by English referee Michael Oliver could not have been otherwise as Lucas was set to score if he had not been brought down by Mehdi Benatia.
Here are their views according to realmadrid.com:
Zinedine Zidane :
“It wasn’t a strange game, but we didn’t expect to concede in the first minute. When that happens, heads drops and the opposition gain in confidence. They approached the game in the right way and we didn’t. We had problems controlling the game”.
“I knew we would be up against it, but I didn’t expect what happened in the first minute. We knew that we’d have to dig in against a side that put in a great performance and that press high up the pitch. I didn’t see us going out because I’m a positive person. I told my players we were going to be troubled, that it would be tricky”.
The Cristiano penalty
“It was a penalty, they’ve told me it was a penalty. I didn’t see it. The ref awarded it and we can’t change that, but I think it was a penalty. Cristiano is used to these situations. He doesn’t feel pressure. He scored the penalty and we got the win”.
“There is nothing left to say. We’re in the semi-finals and we’re happy with that. They played well but we were just average, the difference is we kept believing until the end. We deserved to go through to the semi-finals over the course of the tie and we can be pleased with that”.
The tie
“They would have been expected to score in the first leg but they didn’t. We had the chances to have scored more goals tonight. That’s just the way it goes in football. The Champions League is the top competition and never can you go into games saying that you’re going to win because look at what ends up happening to you”.
“We had the chances to have scored more goals, particularly in the first half. We always believe that we’re going to score because we’ve got players that are capable of scoring at any time”.
Cristiano Ronaldo:
“We had to suffer, to learn, it serves as a lesson that in football certain things can never be ruled out. You have to fight until the last and tonight Real Madrid should have scored more but Buffon was brilliant, Juve were good, but we deserved it. We created chances and in terms of the penalty I don’t know why they are arguing, because Benatia was behind Lucas. That’s football”.
“Football is a game and anything can happen. We were not good, and we have to admit that. We can learn from that for the future. Step-by-step, we are going to the semi-finals”.
The play before the penalty
“Look, if it wasn’t for that, Lucas would have scored. They were behind us and that is their game. I am happy and we are in the semi-finals. For the penalty, my heart was beating hard, but I tried to stay calm. I knew it would be a decisive penalty, thank God I scored and we went through”.
Carvajal:
“Today we have to celebrate”
“We didn’t think the game would happen like that, at 0-3. The Champions League is full of tough games, we had that tough game today and now we can celebrate. We had our errors, we did not have that many chances, we should have scored but it didn’t quite happen like that… that’s football”.
“When I saw it live I thought that he made clear contact. Lucas is right in front of the goal and if Benatia doesn’t bring him down, he scores. Cristiano puts his penalties away most of the time. He’s getting the goals for the team, which is the important thing”.
“We saw it yesterday with Barcelona, anybody can knock you out and we’ve had a difficult game here tonight. I was confident we’d go through, be it over 90 minutes or after extra time, I knew that we’d progress. There are no favourites at this stage. The four teams in the semi-finals could end up winning it and we’re aware of that as we try to make it through to Kiev”.
Kroos: “It was a penatly for me”
“When ever you fail to score it’s to be expected that you have to dig in. I don’t think it was a bad performance. After Juventus’s opener we played well and carved out several chances, but we didn’t manage to score and that made things difficult for us. I’ve not seen the penalty incident again but for me it was a penalty”.
And Lucas Vázquez, who was fouled in the box:
“Cristiano passed it to me in the six-yard box and when I went to control it the defender hit me and I went down. I don’t think there is any discussion regarding that penalty. We have to be happy having got into the semi-finals, that is the most important. In terms of the arguing, after such a game and a penalty in the final minute… it’s normal that they contest it”.
“The Champions League is unforgiving and you have to focus for 90 minutes to be in the competition. We knew how to hold on and that goal from Cristiano was vital. Now whoever we face we must prepare well with good motivation and aim to get to the final”.
