Real Madrid may have drawn a blank in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash against Paris Saint-Germain, but manager Carlo Ancelotti has pushed back against suggestions his team set out too conservatively.
The game at the Parc des Princes was goalless until stoppage-time at the end of the 90, at which point Kylian Mbappe broke the deadlock, while Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had earlier saved a Lionel Messi penalty.
While the away goals rule is not in play, the result does still mean anything less than a win in the return leg at the Bernabeu will see Ancelotti's side eliminated from the competition.
However, despite the result not being what the Italian coach wanted against his former employers, he has defended his team's approach.
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"Being conservative would be Courtois kicking every ball long. But, we always tried to play out from the back," Ancelotti said, as reported by Managing Madrid.
"It didn’t work because we suffered too much from their pressure. We played a low block and could have been more aggressive, I agree, but it wasn’t a conservative approach.
"We tried to play with the ball like we normally do, but it didn’t come off tonight."
Ancelotti admitted his frustration at the bookings which will keep Ferland Mendy and Casemiro out of the return leg ("fouls, but not much more," as he put it), but insisted his team needs to step things up in front of their own fans.
"We have to be better in the second leg, when we have the game in our stadium," he said.
"We don’t have to worry about away goals, which could help us. It’s obvious that PSG have a small advantage, but I hope it’s not enough."
Real Madrid have won two of their previous three home meetings with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. However, the most recent clash - in the 2019-20 group stage - ended all square after the visitors came back from 2-0 down.
Real Madrid didn't force opposition goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma into a single save in Paris, whereas Courtois made nine - including the stop from Messi's spot-kick.
"Obviously he shoots a lot of penalties, so it's hard to guess right," the Belgian goalkeeper told BT Sport.
"He missed a few on this side, so I think it was obvious he was going to the left [of the keeper].
"Maybe to the middle, he scored one against Leipzig. I just said 'okay, we'll go left', and I had a good save."
Still, while Real Madrid had fewer shots, passes and recoveries than their opponents, manager Ancelotti believed he understood the root of the issues and knows what needs to change.
"With the ball, we didn’t do what we wanted," he said.
"Normally we don’t have that problem because we have quality players. Today, it didn’t come off."
