Real Mallorca boss Javier Aguirre has praised Real Madrid‘s Carlo Ancelotti and Villarreal‘s Unai Emery after they both led their teams into the Champions League semi-finals.
Real Madrid lost 3-1 at home to Chelsea after 90 minutes in the second leg, following a 3-1 win of their own in London, but a Karim Benzema goal in extra time has booked their place in the last four. Villarreal, meanwhile, scored a late equaliser away at Bayern Munich to advance with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
“The Spanish league is in a good place. I congratulate Unai and Carletto,” Aguirre said on Radio MARCA.
“Real Madrid on their home pitch and with their fans and with 13 [Champions League trophies] up their sleeves, it’s almost impossible to beat them.
“What Real Madrid do is already being studied in schools in Mexico and the United States. I’ve faced them and I’ve suffered; you have to take your chances against them because there’s no other way [of winning].”
Praise for Simeone
Aguirre also launched a strong defence of Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone and stated his belief that the Argentine coach deserves more respect, a few days after Mallorca‘s 1-0 win against Los Rojiblancos.
“I think that we don’t give enough respect to a great coach, people can’t be so harsh when [Simeone] is an honest man and has won it all,” he commented.
“It isn’t fair and I support him completely.”
Marca
