"I can’t say the tie is decided yet" - Carlo Ancelotti makes bold claims after Real Madrid's 5-2 win at Liverpool

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has tried to play down his team's chances in their UEFA Champions League Round-of-16 tie against Liverpool. Los Blancos registered a resounding 5-2 away victory in the first leg at Anfield on Tuesday, February 21.

Liverpool took the lead through Darwin Nunez in the fifth minute before a mistake from Thibaut Courtois allowed Mohamed Salah to make it 2-0 for the hosts. That was as good as it got for Jurgen Klopp's men as Real Madrid scored five in return to take a healthy three-goal lead in the tie.

However, Ancelotti urged his side to maintain focus for the second leg, scheduled to be played on March 15 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“We have taken advantage after 90 minutes. We now have to manage and control what happened in the second leg in Madrid,” the Italian tactician said after the match.

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He also talked about his thought process when Real went 2-0 down early on in the encounter. Ancelotti likened his side's comeback on Tuesday to that against Manchester City in the Champions League semifinals last year, saying:

“Liverpool are a very competitive team and created a lot of problem for us at the start of the game and we have to think the same again, they will make us suffer in moments. It is not all over. I can’t say the tie is decided yet.

“What was I thinking at 2-0 down? I remembered Manchester City in the semi-final last season. We improved in that game. I was hoping the same thing might happen and we’ve done even better than that. It wasn’t unpredictable, the start. We knew we would come under pressure.”

Ancelotti concluded by praising his team's decisiveness in the second half when asked if this was his greatest away victory in the competition with Real Madrid.

“Yes, winning here is never easy of course. In such a decisive manner and uncomplicated way in the second half, we are very, very happy with our performance,” he added.

Real Madrid mount stunning comeback to down Liverpool

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Liverpool looked like they had returned to their best when they took an early lead in the match through Nunez and Salah. But Real hit back almost instantly when Vinicius Junior slammed home from the edge of the box in the 20th minute.

A goalkeeping error from Alisson allowed Vinicius to equalize for the visitors before Eder Militao's rocket header gave them the lead just two minutes after the restart.

It was Karim Benzema's turn to get on the scoresheet as the Frenchman finished with a brace. His first strike in the 55th minute was rather lucky as his weak shot took a deflection off Joe Gomez to land in the back of the net.

He added to his tally in the 67th minute to give Real Madrid a healthy 5-2 lead, which proved to be decisive in killing the game off.