Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso struck a determined tone at a press conference on Monday as his squad trained in Kazakhstan ahead of their Champions League clash.
Footage shows Thibaut Courtois, Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappé, and Franco Mastantuono among the players preparing at the Ortalyq Stadion before facing Kazakh side Airat Almaty.
“Tomorrow is the Champions League match. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, it doesn’t matter where we’re playing — we want to win. Getting off to a good start is important,” Alonso told reporters.
The coach acknowledged his side was still reeling from Saturday’s heavy 5-2 defeat to Atlético Madrid, but insisted the team had moved on.
The head coach stressed that the team has thoroughly analysed the devastating results of its last match two days ago, when Atletico Madrid thrashed their main rivals in Spain with a score of 5:2.
“We've changed our usual roadmap a little bit, but in football and in everything, the smartest person is the one who knows how to adapt best,” he said. “The important thing is tomorrow, 24 hours after the match. Yes, you're still a little hooked, but we're already thinking about what we can do tomorrow.”
Midfielder Federico Valverde added that players had held frank discussions to reset their mindset. “The defeat was a very hard blow for us. But we talked a lot, many players came together to change the dynamics of the group, of the team, of what happened the other day, the attitude, to change it as quickly as possible,” he said.
Airat Almaty will host Real Madrid in their first-ever home match in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday at the Almaty Central Stadium.
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