Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid's Italian coach, praised the figure of Marco Asensio, "the best" of the win against Celtic, in a match in which he assured that they wanted "to have good feelings again" and they fulfilled the objective to finish first of group.
"Today without buts, we conceded a goal for a good foul. The game was good, played well from the beginning. The team was focused, we didn't want problems, we wanted to have good feelings again and we have fulfilled it", he analyzed in a conference of press.
Ancelotti praised Marco Asensio who celebrated his second start with a goal and a great performance. "He has endured well, with a good attitude in the period when he has not played. The work he did is leading him to contribute his quality to the team. I have no doubts, I did not have them but sometimes when you are not happy you can have a positive reaction , like him, or negative".
"Marco has been the best of the match, he has played as a winger and has combined well with Valverde and the combination of the top three has been very good. He has the necessary quality of a midfielder who can make the difference and he has been forceful Effective with the ball, sacrifice without him. He has been the best," he added.
The growth of players such as the Brazilians Rodrygo and Vinícius plus the Uruguayan Fede Valverde, has been the highlight of Real Madrid's group stage in which Karim Benzema's contribution was reduced compared to last year.
"Now they have more prominence and confidence, especially Valverde who has radically changed in terms of goals scored compared to last season. Vinícius is looking for good positions inside the penalty area playing without Karim, who was the protagonist last year. We are replacing him fine," he analyzed.
"The three of them are doing well, they have the possibility of improving in many aspects. The fact of not having Karim has given all the attacking players much more responsibility, they have accepted it and are fulfilling it. They are very serious professionals but very humble," he added.
In the case of Fede Valverde, the Italian already scored a new goal target for his player. "Getting to fifteen would be good. He has an impressive quality in the shot, he can get to score a lot more."
Although he did not forget the game played by veterans Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. "If the youngsters surprise you a bit, Luka and Toni never surprise you. They are always at a very high level, they handle the ball very well, they control the timing of the game with a unique quality. They are not the age of children but they are very good two".
Lastly, he showed hope of recovering Aurélien Tchouaméni in the next match, on Monday in Vallecas against Rayo. "He doesn't have a muscle injury, it's a tendinitis that he had and it has bothered him in recent days. He started training yesterday, if the sensations are better he will be available on Monday like Karim".
