Clear progress in La Liga, group win in the UEFA Champions League – and David Alaba right in the middle.
The ÖFB star is currently at his all-time high with Real Madrid, fixing a 2-0 home win over Inter Milan (Match Report >>>) to finish first in the Champions League Group D. Dream goals of Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio ensured success, while keeping Alaba and Co store closed in the back.
The former Bayern Munich player has long grown into a leading role in the “Royal”, dictating what happens in the real defense. Madrid have not lost in 12 matches, the last defeat was on 3 October at Espanol Barcelona (1:2).
Despite their extreme self-confidence, the Spaniards were warned about Inter, as Alaba said after the match on Sky: “We knew Inter had quality in their ranks, they like to get the ball and let it go, but we were especially defensive, very organized and very focused. We did not allow ourselves to be tempted.”
The Austrian rejoiced that this also shows the progress made by the riyal “in the past few months and we want to continue there.”
“The past weeks and months have shown what we can do”
Especially at the start of the season, many aspects of the CL record winner’s game were still shaky, and the defense wasn’t always stable. “We got to know each other for the first few weeks, it’s a different game for me than I was used to (Bayern, note). It all took time,” Alaba said.
Among them, absorbing the philosophy of new coach Carlo Ancelotti. “We knew it was going to take a bit, but you can see from week to week that things are getting better and we are applying the system very well.”
This makes Real Madrid want more, said the left player, referring to the top places in the Spanish League and the Champions League.
“You could say we’re very confident in ourselves”
“Now it’s the results we’re imagining,” Alaba continues. The match against Inter is the perfect example: “We never get nervous, we believe in our strengths and our plan, which we always want to follow at the end of the day,” explains the 29-year-old Vienna.
“You can tell we’re very confident, even when we don’t have the ball in our possession. We won’t let that drive us crazy,” Alaba added, then spoke of the rest of the games before Christmas. The Madrid derby match against Atletico Madrid is scheduled for next Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu, followed by Cadiz and Bilbao.
Alaba: “We know there will be other important matches ahead of Christmas that we want to play successfully. We are on the right track and we want to continue like this.” Real Madrid have a lot of self-confidence – all of Europe should be wary of that.
Top of the group!
See you next year in the round of 16.See you next year in the round of 16! pic.twitter.com/dqjlwQgKvP
– David Alaba (@David_Alaba) December 7, 2021
Text: © LAOLA1.at
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