MY ACCOUNT
Carlo Ancelotti feels Real Madrid will have a great chance of beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League if they maintain the standard they set in a thrashing of Real Sociedad.
Los Blancos came from behind to thrash sixth-placed La Real 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday and go eight points clear of Sevilla at the top of LaLiga.
Mikel Oyarzabal gave La Real an early lead from the penalty spot after Dani Carvajal upended David Silva, but sublime long-range strikes from Eduardo Camavinga and Luka Modric gave Madrid a half-time advantage.
Karim Benzema scored his 20th LaLiga goal of the season from the penalty spot after having two strikes ruled out for offside and Marco Asensio added a fourth 11 minutes from time.
Madrid now turn their attention to overturning a 1-0 deficit when they face PSG in the second leg of their round-of-16 tie on Wednesday.
Ancelotti’s side will have home advantage and the Italian wants to see the same tempo from his team when they take on the Ligue 1 leaders, who will come into the game on the back of a 1-0 loss to Nice.
He said: “We played really well from the beginning. The plan was to press up front, to stop Real Sociedad building attacks from the area. It worked.
“The physical effort was huge, we did well. If we play like this on Wednesday, we have a bigger chance of going through.”
The Basques could not live with Madrid’s intensity as they swept forward time and again at pace.
They zipped the ball around with great passing and movement in a dominant display, affording La Real just one shot, which gave Ancelotti great optimism heading into a huge European showdown against his former club.
“It was an important match because we had the opportunity to take advantage in LaLiga,” he added, alluding to Sevilla’s 0-0 draw with Deportivo Alaves on Friday. “The team has understood very well the importance of the match. It is a match that gives us great hope.
“This is the intensity that we have to have and that the fans like. It can be repeated on Wednesday against PSG.
“All of Madrid believes more after this game. The idea of going out [to show their appreciation for the supporters] at the end of the game came from the players, because on Wednesday the help of the fans is essential.”
