Carlo Ancelotti explains why he took off Eder Militao at half-time against Celtic

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Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has explained why he took off Brazilian defender Eder Militao at half-time in Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory over Celtic on Tuesday.

Ancelotti said: “Militao wanted to carry on but we didn’t want to risk him. Overall our game in the second half was good, we controlled possession and when it was needed we were fast on the break so overall it was good.”

Real Madrid suffered an injury scare when Ballon d’Or hopeful Karim Benzema limped from the field after half an hour.

Giving an update on Benzema’s injury, Ancelotti said: “For the moment (Benzema) is nothing worrying. From the first evaluations it’s not too serious. We will wait to see what the medical examinations say in the morning. We don’t know yet if it’s muscular or not.

“There were lots of winners in today’s game particularly Eden Hazard who has come through with goals and assists. He is very motivated to play. It wasn’t easy for him to come on because we were struggling in the first half but we coped better in the second half.”