Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane admitted that he breathed a sigh of relief after the end of the first leg of the Champions League semi-final match against Chelsea and his team is still in competition, after a 1-1 draw with the "Blues", who beat the Spanish team in large parts of the match.
And the "royal" found himself in a difficult position since the first minutes, delaying the goal of American Christian Pulisic, but he equalized thanks to a wonderful goal from Karim Benzema, before the performance of both sides declined in the second half.
Zidane told reporters, "I am very happy with the players because we are still alive ... We faced difficulties in the first 25-30 minutes, but the performance improved and we were much better in the second half and dominated. We are happy with what we did in the match in general."
Real Madrid made their way past Liverpool and Atlanta in the last two matches in the knockout rounds, but faced a difficult test against Chelsea, who played fiercely, and Zidane praised the team of coach Thomas Tuchel for his success in nullifying the seriousness of his team.
Zidane added, "We are good at pressing the opponents from the start of the stadium, but Chelsea were very good. Chelsea played 21 matches and did not concede in 16 of them (before Tuesday's match), and they explained why. They qualified for the semi-finals for a reason."
Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid goalkeeper, who interfered in the first minutes to deny Timo Werner the Chelsea striker, admitted that the English team was the best, but confirmed that his team would put him under pressure in London.
"They were more fierce than us, we wanted to start the match like they did, they did everything in their power. The first goal came at a difficult time for us, but we managed to control ourselves, and the second half was less insane ... a 1-1 draw means that the match next week. It will be like the Final. I don't think it will end without goals, and if Chelsea retreat in defense, he will make a big mistake.