Real Madrid boss Santiago Solari keeps faith in VAR after his squad sealed a 2-1 UEFA Champions League victory against Ajax following a controversial call. Both Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio scored brilliant goals for the Spanish club where Hakim Ziyech secured the only goal for the Dutch club. However, Ajax believes that the result could have been different.
The Netherland club achieved their lead through Nicolas Tagliafico in the first half. But, the officials opted for VAR and ruled out the goal due to the marginal offside call. It is declared by the officials that Dusan Tadic impeded Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in an offside position at the time of Tagliafico’s strike.
🏁 FP: @AFCAjax 1-2 @realmadrid
⚽ Ziyech 75'; @Benzema 60', @marcoasensio10 87'#Emirates | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/N7IXST0gSF— Real Madrid C.F.⚽ (@realmadrid) February 13, 2019
While talking about the VAR incident, Real Madrid manager Santiago Solari said “We don’t have the elements to make a judgment. We don’t have a monitor. We trust what VAR or the referees say.” He added, “Without a doubt [we suffered]. We knew how to play the game, how to work it, suffer through it and to score when we created those chances.”
The manager further added, “We did everything and that shows the strength of the players and of the group.” While media asked the coach if his team faced a little trouble in the first half, he said “That’s your opinion,” and then added “We had to do a lot of things to get this result. We had to work, suffer, know how to escape the press, and be strong.”
Santiago Solari said, “This is the Champions League, the last 16, and there are no teams that are not very good.” He added, “They played with a lot of energy, pushing some situations to the limit, and they made us work hard for the win.” The manager then talked about Asensio and said, “I’m particularly happy with his goal and his performance.”
He said “He’s played in three or four games since he came back from injury,” and added, “He did everything he had to do, not only for the goal but also how he acted on the pitch, how he defended and for his effectiveness in reaching the goal.” The Madrid manager also talked about Bale and said “I’m very happy with everyone’s performance. It was a very difficult game and we needed the maximum from everyone. Without that, we wouldn’t have won.”