Carlo Ancelotti spoke in the press room at the Santiago Bernabéu after the Champions League opener against Stuttgart: “The main thing is that Real Madrid have won the first game in this new format of the Champions League. We're still trying to play our best. We didn't start the game well and they won the clashes and took control of the game. We scored at the start of the second half and the game might have been over with a couple of transitions, but they equalised and we had the strength to dig deep and win the game. If anyone thinks that winning games in the Champions League is easy, they're wrong.”

“I've managed in more than 200 games in the competition and I can't remember any of them without having to dig deep. Real Madrid know exactly what it means to win a Champions League by digging deep. We won the last two Champions League titles by defending well and exploiting the speed of the players up front. We have to work more on possession, but we should never forget that the easiest way to do damage is to reach the opposition's goal as quickly as possible.”

Comparison with last season's start
“Last year we won the first game against Union Berlin in the 95th minute and we had to dig deep. Against Getafe, the same happened. There's nothing new about having to dig deep. If anyone thinks that matches are easy to win, they're wrong. We have to fight, compete and dig deep as well.”

Problems playing their game?
“You have to choose between building up progressively or playing directly. The responsibility lies with the coach, who chooses to play directly. If we built up play we wouldn't score the first goal. There are moments when you have to build up slowly and others when you have to play direct because we have very fast forwards.”

Endrick
“He had courage because the best approach was to take advantage of the three-on-one situation, but he was confident of scoring and he did that very well because the ultimate goal is to score. It was the most difficult option, but it worked out very well. He's capable of doing things that nobody can think of. Nobody thought he'd be able to shoot in that situation. He has this gift, which is very effective, and in training you can see that he has something special. He's very effective, with a very strong and very rapid shot. I am not going to go into his personal life. The only thing I can say is that in these two days he's proved to be very brave in all senses of the word.”

MVP Courtois’ performance
“He's the best goalkeeper in the world without a doubt, but I've had goalkeepers of the highest level. At the moment, Courtois is the best of them all.”

Rüdiger
“He's very strong in both areas. It's a very important asset, but you also have to assess the quality of the crosser. He's very strong in the air.”

On substituting Lucas Vázquez
“The defenders had a lot of clashes and Lucas was already on a card. I chose to avoid the risk. The defenders did well at the back. Offensively they could've done better.”