Mission accomplished as Real Madrid reach cup final Ancelotti says

MADRID – It was mission accomplished, said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after his side fought back from two goals behind to snatch a rip-roaring 4-4 draw on April 1 for a 5-4 aggregate win over Real Sociedad that put them through to the Copa del Rey final.

He brushed off questions about a sub-par performance by his side and praised his players’ effort in what he considered a highly entertaining encounter.

“We have achieved our goal today which was to reach the final and there is not much time to think about it. It was an entertaining game with some mistakes and a lot of good things. It was fun and we are in the final,” the Italian told a press conference.

“I never saw ourselves out of it because anything can happen at the Bernabeu. When we have to come from behind, we never give up. We never give up, especially at home, with the fans by our side.”

Ancelotti said David Alaba was not to blame after he deflected two balls into his own goal, calling it “bad luck” by the Austrian defender, but urged his defence to play with better focus moving forward.

“It’s not good to concede four goals in a game. Right now, we are a team that has a lot of effectiveness up front, but little balance,” Ancelotti said.

“However, we can’t ignore what we did in attack, scoring four goals against Real is not that easy. I think we are doing quite well.”

Real, who have won the Spanish Cup only once in over a decade, will play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid in a mouth-watering final in Seville on April 26. Atletico fought back to hold Barca to a thrilling 4-4 draw ahead of the April 2 second leg in Madrid.