Luka Madrid could not help but to announce to the world that Real Madrid are back to the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in three years. Madrid made it through to the next round of the competition after defeating Italian Serie A side Atalanta 4-1 on aggregate.
In his reaction after the second leg of the round of 16 which ended 3-1 in favor of Madrid, Luka Modric said the qualification of the Spanish side to the next round of the competition is a prove that Madrid are still capable of going far in the tournament.
The last time Real Madrid went very far in the UEFA Champions League was during the 2017-2018 season in which they went as far as winning the title by beating Liverpool 3-1 in the final. The 2018 triumph maintained Real Madrid’s record as the most successful team in the competition. They have won the Champions League title a record 13 times.
“The important thing was that we got through to the last eight, which we haven’t done in the last two years,” said the 35-year-old Croatian midfielder.
“We’ve shown tonight that there’s still a lot of hunger within this team and that we want to continue to win. We’re capable of going really far.”
Luka Madrid who has been at Real Madrid since 2012 after his move from Tottenham Hotspur, has played a part in winning four of the 13 UEFA Champions League titles Madrid won in the history of the club.
The Croatian is hoping to win his 5th UEFA Champions League title with Real Madrid which can only happen this season because his contract with the Spanish giants will expire in June 2021.
So far the season, the 35-year-old midfielder has played 26 Spanish La Liga games in which he scored three goals and provided three assists. He has played a total of 35 games, scoring 4 goals and providing 5 assists in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid coach, Zinedine Zidane said he has congratulated his boys for qualifying for the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Champions League.
He praised his team for not giving Atalanta much chance in the game aside from the goal the Italian team managed to score in the 83rd minute via a free kick taken by Luis Fernando Muriel.
“I’ve congratulated the boys because they played a great game from start to finish against a side who asks a lot of you physically.
“We needed to defend well and we were able to play our own game with the ball.
“The Zapata chance aside they didn’t really have a sniff. Normally they create a lot of chances but tonight they didn’t; we played well and looked good going forward.”
👔🎙️ Zidane: “Hemos hecho un gran partido.”#UCL | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/DRNtsudS2s
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) March 16, 2021
While Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini said: “I don’t have regrets on my initial choices. We can’t afford to make mistakes and gift goals, we wanted to do better. It’s a pity.
“This is always a fantastic experience for everyone, the coach, the players, the club.
“We had the chance to play against some of Europe’s best. We did well this season, and are disappointed for these last two games.”
