Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro insisted they will not give in to complacency by assuming their Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea is a done job; instead, they will be intensive in their play.
After their below-par performance, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was very critical of his team and said “it would be impossible” to recover from the setback-words that did not go unnoticed in Real’s dressing room.
“We won’t fall for that,” Casemiro told a news conference on Monday. ” We played probably what was the best 90 minutes of our season in London last week and took a significant step closer to qualifying for the semi-final, but we can’t get overly confident.
We don’t buy it. We know that it will be a challenging game. Chelsea are defending champions, and we won’t take this lightly.
Casemiro warned Real’s supporters not to lose their focus and called on them to pack the Santiago Bernabéu stadium and help their team finish what they started in London.
We’ll need our fans to be there and support us from the beginning,” Casemiro said. “We can’t get overconfident and need our fans to create a great atmosphere so that we can advance to the semi-finals.”
Coach Carlo Ancelotti agreed with Casemiro that they would not fall for Tuchel, putting pressure on Real Madrid.
“Chelsea will come here (the Bernabéu) to rescue the tie; I have no doubt about it,” the Italian told a news conference when asked if Tuchel was playing mind games against his side.
“He can say whatever he wants, but I’m sure Chelsea will come here to win; that’s the spirit of football, the spirit of big clubs and great players, never to give up.
“I’m lucky to have a group of players that know these types of games really well, that anything can happen. They are in a good spirit and happy with the opportunity to reach a Champions League semi-final. But Chelsea is a very strong rival.”
