- Real Madrid drew to RB Leipzig in the Champions League
- They progressed to the quarterfinal on aggregate
- Nacho Fernandez has addressed the fans’ concern
Real Madrid have progressed to the quarterfinal of the UEFA Champions League, after they drew 1-1 against RB Leipzig last night. Looking at the 2nd-leg as a standalone, it was not exactly a thrilling spectacle. If anything, Real Madrid looked lacklustre and had it not been for a great counter attack from Toni Kroos, Jude Bellingham and finished by Vinicius Junior, things could’ve been ugly.
Thankfully, though, the one-goal advantage Real Madrid established in the 1st leg was sufficient enough to see them through this tie. Understandably, the Santiago Bernabeu crowd were not impressed with what they saw last night.
Real Madrid captain tells Bernabeu crowd to “calm down” after RB Leipzig stalemate
The captain Nacho Fernandez has spoken about the concern displayed by the Bernabeu crowd last night.
Quoted by Managing Madrid, Nacho said: “Self-criticism is at its highest in this team, which will help us learn for the quarter-finals. We have a good margin in the league and we have advanced in the Champions League. No team is perfect all season. I repeat, self-criticism because we know we haven’t played well, but this is not a disaster. At the beginning of the season we would have loved to be in this position, so please, calm down, we are moving forward,”
The exact problem is that Real Madrid hardly “moved forward” last night. As per FotMob, Real Madrid only managed 3 shots on target, the first of which coming in the second half. I guess it’s a testament to the efficiency of counter-attack that the only big chance created was finished by Vinicius Junior. But it was a cagey affair throughout, since Real Madrid only held a lead for 3 minutes.