Chivu: "We had courage, it gives me a lot of confidence for the future"

“I’m not angry; I’m happy with the courage and personality we showed, and with the way the team overcame a difficult moment. What matters to me is the reaction to certain mistakes, the body language, and how much you believe in what you’re doing. We tried to be dominant and execute our game plan successfully, which makes me optimistic about the future of this team. We knew about their quality and that we could make mistakes. We didn’t try to sit back and speculate; we went toe-to-toe with Real Madrid, and that’s the performance I’m taking away from this game. Pepo reacted like a top-level goalkeeper: he stayed focused and made some important saves. When you talk about a goalkeeper, what always matters is how you react and how you find that pride within yourself to avoid losing confidence. I have enormous affection for Mourinho for everything we did together, even during a difficult period in my life, and for the way he conducted himself as a great man. It was a pleasure to see him again and embrace him, and I wish him all the best for this season. Carlos was absolutely exhausted by the end. I’m happy with his performance and Diouf’s; they both played well, and Carlos managed to score, while Andy showed courage and personality by taking on one of the best full-backs in the world one-on-one. We put in a great performance that gives me a lot of confidence for our future.”