Carlo Ancelotti: Real needed to trust in attack

As the minutes slipped by and Real entered extra time, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti remained confident in the gameplan that brought his side to the Champions League final.

After falling behind in the first half, Ancelotti told his players to trust in the potent attack that brought them 104 goals in La Liga and another 37 in Europe this season.

The strategy paid off nearly three minutes into stoppage time as Sergio Ramos scored the equaliser, and Real found three goals in extra time to win the Champions League final 4-1.

"At halftime I said we had to play quicker and trust more in our offensive capabilities," Ancelotti said. "I told the players the same after 90 minutes, to keep attacking, because we really created problems for them.

"What was most difficult was to get the equaliser. We didn't have any space, Atletico defended very well, but we tried every way possible, right to the end -- we managed to do it and then the game changed completely. The goal we scored gave us a lot of strength and after that perhaps we wanted the victory more."

Ancelotti refused to admit that his side were somewhat fortunate to break through the stalwart Atletico defence from a corner.

"I am lucky, but not for this game," Ancelotti said. "You can say I'm a lucky man in the end, or you can say that we tried to do everything until the last second of the game. This is football -- sometimes you have bad luck, sometimes good luck.

The Italian, who won his third Champions League as a manager after two with AC Milan, said winning La Decima for Real Madrid fills a hole in the club's trophy room.

"On my first day, when I went to the Santiago Bernabeu trophy room, I said to the president that there was one cup missing and that we should try to get it this season," he said. "We've managed to do that. I've felt a lot of trust in me from the whole of the club, and we've had the composure to win games.

"We've won the most important competition in the world. The season has been very long and after the semifinal with Bayern, perhaps our results haven't been as good, but I want to congratulate the players because they've been fantastic all year."