Ancelotti elucidated the rationale behind his decision to substitute Bellingham against Bayern

On April 30th, the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final took place between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.

After the match, Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti commented on the outcome of the encounter and explained why he substituted Jude Bellingham for Luka Modric in the 75th minute of the game:

"Bellingham was experiencing cramps, so when I made the substitutions, I was looking for freshness.

In the first half, we had to defend, but we did so without the intensity I wanted. In the second half, they pushed forward, but I think we pressed better then. My overall impression was that we felt quite comfortable, but we lacked our maximum intensity. This is where you have to suffer – everyone in the world knows that.

With Kroos, we managed possession well, and Bayern didn't press too high on our ball retention. There was space. We expected them to play high, they did, and we took advantage with Toni and Vinicius, scoring the first goal. Fantastic pass, fantastic finish.

Kroos played well throughout the match. Everything needed to be changed, and we had players on the bench whom I wanted to use. Right now, we are in an excellent position in the league and in this semi-final as well – now we need to give it our all to reach Wembley," said Ancelotti.