Pellegrini: Real Madrid Have To Work On Set-Piece Defending

‘El Ingeniero’ has admitted that his side does have one big weakness at present.

Jul 28, 2009 9:50:03 PM

More On :  Real Madrid
Manuel Pellegrini, Real Madrid (Goal.com)

Real Madrid galloped into the semi-finals of the 2009 Peace Cup after a comfortable-looking 4-2 victory over LDU Quito in the final game in Group B.

Los Blancos, however, didn’t have things all their own way as they allowed the Ecuadorians to pull back to within a goal on two separate occasions, and coach Manuel Pellegrini acknowledged that there is still a lot for his team to work on.

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“We still have a month and a half of preparations and we are not going to see a definitive team or system,” he said during the post-match press conference.

“Instead, we will see several ways of playing, as was the case with all the teams I have been with. I do not give importance to the results

“We are going to improve and today, there has been progress in several aspects.”

Pellegrini then assessed the match in detail: “In the first half, we had the sensation that we were always in control and I never felt as though we were under threat.

“In the second, we maintained the same attitude and the pressure even though we had the advantage. Our ideas and execution will continue to improve.

“The best thing about the game was that we were always in control. The negative is that we conceded twice through set-pieces and that is an issue we have yet to work on.”

Finally, the Chilean coach admitted that he is well aware of the dangers of their next opponent, Juventus.

“Juve, just like LDU, will be a complicated rival. They are going to be very tough but today, we have shown improvements compared to our previous game,” he added.

Madrid also conceded their goal in the 1-1 draw against Al-Ittihad from a dead ball.

KS Leong, Goal.com

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