Real Madrid coach Ancelotti delighted with victory over Athletic Bilbao: We never gave up | OneFootball

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was delighted with their 1-0 win against Athletic Bilbao.

Karim Benzema struck the winner on the night.

Ancelotti said, “We played against a good team who play with great intensity, they hadn't lost away from home so far and had had two days more rest than us. We did well in the first half. In the second half we misplaced more passes and had to endure a difficult 15 or 20 minutes. But we're capable of digging deep when we can't play the football we would like to.

"There're others who, when they aren't able to do what they want, they give up. Real Madrid aren't like that because we have a group of players with a really strong desire at the moment.

“The fact that we've won seven games in a row doesn't come down to luck. When we can't use our quality in one area we can use another quality. I'm really pleased. I liked the end better than the first half because it looked like an exhibition game, where we didn't want to create chances. In the final stretch we lacked a bit of quality, but not the desire."

He added: “The team was tired towards the end. It's normal because we played against a fresher team and we felt that a bit. I have to take into account these things for the next match. I have to see if the players who showed signs of fatigue can play. I also think with the five changes it's good to put on players with more quality in the first 60 minutes and players with more energy in the next 30 minutes."