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Home  » Sports » We forced Real into errors, says Monaco coach

We forced Real into errors, says Monaco coach

April 07, 2004 08:19 IST
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Monaco coach Didier Deschamps said his team's startling success against Real Madrid on Tuesday was brought about by forcing the Spanish favourites out of their comfortable stride.

Real, 4-2 up from the first leg, looked to be strolling into the Champions League semi-finals when Raul stretched the overall lead to 5-2 with a goal after 36 minutes.

But after captain Ludovic Giuly levelled on the night in first-half injury time Deschamps instructed his players to apply more pressure.

"At halftime, I told them to shake them a little bit more," said the former France captain. "We forced them into fouls."

The tactics paid off as Fernando Morientes, on loan from Real, made it 2-1 after 48 minutes and Giuly got his second on the night after 66.

That was enough to send them through on the away goals rule at 5-5, though they continued to press and hit the woodwork twice.

Defensively, Monaco were also impressive in the second half and kept their never during five tense minutes of injury time.

"I think the most important thing was to find a balance between the defence and the attack, which we failed to reach during the first leg," said Deschamps, who now faces Chelsea in the semi-finals after his former club beat Arsenal 2-1 at Highbury for a 3-2 aggregate.

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Source: REUTERS
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