Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti was pleased with how his side found a way to win in their 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu in the Champions League round of 16 first leg on Tuesday.

Rodrygo had opened the scoring for the hosts, though a beauty from Julian Alvarez had cancelled that out before Brahim Diaz won it.

But, while Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe both missed chances to give their side a bigger margin of victory, Ancelotti wanted to focus on the positives.

"These are evenly-matched games. It's a round of 16 in the Champions League, as it could be a final or a semi-final. Atletico are a top team in Europe and you can't think about finishing the tie in the first leg," he told a press conference.

"We've gained a small advantage that gives us confidence for the second leg but that's it. It was a difficult match ... as usual. It always is against Atleti.

"In the first half we lost too many balls, we had unnecessary mistakes that almost cost us, they levelled the game with Julian Alvarez. But in the second half we were better. We were able to take advantage and we did it."

Ancelotti also downplayed tough nights for both Vinicius and Mbappe, suggesting that they were well marshalled by Atletico's defence rather than anything else.

"I think playing against Atletico's defence is not that easy a task," he said. "We haven't had many chances throughout the match and the two of them have worked hard, they've fought hard...

"They haven't had the chance to show the quality we all know they have, but they've got the return leg to do it."

The winners of the tie look certain to meet Arsenal in the next round, following their 7-1 victory over PSV Eindhoven in Tuesday's first leg.