Carlo Ancelotti hailed his Real Madrid team and its president after qualifying for the Champions ... [+]
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti hailed a "magical" evening as his team once more reached the Champions League final.
Los Blancos were losing 1-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate until Joselu struck a brace sealed by goals in the 88th and 91st minutes which booked their tickets to a Wembley final against Bayern's domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund on June 1.
"It's happened again," Ancelotti beamed at his post-match press conference, praising his "players who can't stop believing".
"It's magical. We played well. It was complicated. We had good control of the game and then we had the strength not to lose our heads. We have to thank the fans and the club. And to the players, because they've had a season that nobody expected - me neither," Ancelotti admitted.
"Reaching the final is a success, no matter what. If I think about the days to get to the final, we'll have a great time. We'll celebrate the league title," Ancelotti promised, demanding a get together at the Cibeles fountain which was previously put on ice because "happiness infects the atmosphere and the players".
Told he's a great "captain" of a ship that continues steering towards glory, Ancelotti insisted that "there's one captain of the ship here and his name is Florentino Perez" in a nod to the president.
"The rest of us are sailors. He's been able to create this great generation of players and hopefully we can win another Champions League."
Ancelotti was probed on why things weren't expected to be like this, in a season where Madrid had been written off by many.
"Because we've had a lot of injuries," the Italian answered. "Everyone is talking about [Thibaut] Courtois, [Eder] Militao [i.e. their injuries] ... And we've never complained. The team has used these issues to show the value, the character of this squad.
With Thomas Tuchel and his defender Matthijs de Ligt calling the officiating a "disgrace" thanks to its impact when deeming a goal by the Dutchman to have been offside, Ancelotti felt that the play was "pretty clear".
"They complain and we complain about Nacho's goal. Kimmich dived," Ancelotti stated.
As for Joselu's winner, the most successful coach in the history of the UCL also had no doubts.
"I said from the bench that it was a legal goal. What I was thinking about was trying to hold on to the lead, because I knew it was a legal goal."
