Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti commended his players for refusing to give up even though they were outplayed, as his team snatched a 2-1 LaLiga victory against Valencia on Sunday with two late goals.
Hugo Duro gave Valencia the lead in the second half, but Vinicius Jr equalised in the 86th minute before putting in a cross for Karim Benzema to head the visitors ahead two minutes later.
Also Read: Europa Conference League: Tottenham Hotspur could be short of attackers after double injuryReal also won the Champions League with a last-gasp goal from Rodrygo in the 89th minute, giving the club a total of six goals in the final five minutes in five games across all competitions this season.
"We didn't beat them because of our superior quality; we accomplished it because of our unwavering spirit. We continued going until the very end."
Real Madrid climbed to the top of the table with the win, but Ancelotti feels his team is still far from its best.
"We have a young team," he said, "and I'll be the first to confess we're not playing spectacular football right now."
"We didn't play well in the first half; we attacked effectively on the break, but we were heavily pinned back, and it's easy to lose goals when you sit too deep.”
Valencia coach Jose Bordalas struggled to accept the setback after his team overcome first-half injuries to Carlos Soler and Thierry Correia and had controlled the game until Real's late comeback.
"We're disappointed since the squad put in a tremendous effort following the issues we had with Carlos and Correia," he added.
"We accomplished precisely what we wanted and played far better than they did, pressuring them high and maintaining control of the game." We played 75 flawless minutes, but we couldn't afford to lose focus even for a second.
"We were unlucky, but we could have handled the final few minutes better." We didn't read the game properly and paid for our mistakes," he added.