Following his goal in Real Madrid’s 3-0 Champions League victory over Sporting Braga, Rodrygo expressed his gratitude towards Carlo Ancelotti for supporting him during a challenging start to the season.
Madrid’s early penalty was saved by Andriy Lunin before Brahim Díaz scored, and Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo added goals in the second half, securing Madrid’s spot in the round of 16.
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Although Rodrygo had not scored in LaLiga since the season’s opening weekend, his recent goal in the Champions League marks his second consecutive score in the tournament. After scoring in the 61st minute at the Santiago Bernabeu, he ran to embrace Ancelotti in gratitude.
Rodrygo, speaking to Movistar, said, “I’m very happy, it was a perfect game. I’m very happy with the goal and the assist, but also with the win and qualification. The hug was to thank Ancelotti. When you aren’t in a good moment, that’s when you see who people really are. I scored and I had to celebrate it with him.”
Although Rodrygo has struggled in the current campaign, he has been a crucial player in Madrid’s recent successes, contributing to the 2022 Champions League and LaLiga double and scoring 18 goals last season.
“In my career, there’ve been forwards who’ve scored in every game and others who have moments when it’s hard to score,” Ancelotti said in his post-match news conference. “All you can do is support them. A player with Rodrygo or Vinícius’s characteristics will score sooner or later. They have extraordinary quality, it’s just a question of time.”
“Vinicius and Rodrygo combined spectacularly in the second half. There aren’t many duos who can counter-attack like Rodrygo and Vinicius.”
Ancelotti mentioned that Brahim Diaz, the returning playmaker from AC Milan, had been unlucky not to play more often, showing great quality and defensive sacrifice.
The coach also revealed that goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who was replaced by Lunin before kickoff, had felt discomfort in the warm-up and would be assessed on Thursday.
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