Ancelotti: “Injuries are an opportunity to see the character of the team”

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media ahead of the UEFA Champions League tie against Atlético Madrid, addressing a number of pre-match topics. Among them was the team’s ability to compete on all three fronts, as Ancelotti reflected that “we have had very serious injuries.

This affects a season, obviously, but in this sense we have a very good player who is helping us a lot like Raúl Asencio. Sometimes injuries are an opportunity to see the character of the team and the squad and new players. The truth is that it is a very physically demanding schedule for the players.”

Ancelotti on what he wants to see
“We have good memories of the match against City. It was a special night and we want to repeat this kind of match.

Ancelotti on whether a big win is needed in the first leg
“We don’t think so. It’s impossible. It will be a close tie and it will be decided in the second leg. Tomorrow’s objective is to play well and take an advantage. The match is even and competitive, but we can’t think about taking a big advantage tomorrow. The opponent is a strong opponent.”

Ancelotti on Fede Valverde

“He trained yesterday individually, he had a good feeling. Today he will train with the team and after the training we will make the decision if he can play or not.”

Ancelotti on the loss to Betis

“We’ll see what happens tomorrow. We have been doing well in terms of attitude, but it was lacking against Betis. Hopefully it was an isolated case.”

Ancelotti on the loss of Ceballos and Bellingham

“I don’t think it will change the idea we have of playing. I don’t think it will change much. We have to take into account that the players who have been rested may have a chance tomorrow: Asencio, Camavinga…. We have to look at this kind of things and nothing else. We are not going to reinforce the midfield or remove a striker. We have to keep the same idea.”

Ancelotti on Mbappé and Griezmann

“They are among the two best players in the world, yes. Griezmann likes to come and play, he has very good control of the game, it is rare that he misses passes. And Kylian has the quality of a real striker, more forceful in finishing and in the clearance”.

Ancelotti on whether his team lacks know-how

“No. It’s a team that is able to read the match situations well, which we didn’t do in the game against Betis”.

Ancelotti on the difference to playing Manchester City

“We have to take into account the difference between the two rivals. Atletico is a more direct team and can counter-attack more. But I don’t want to change our style, our mentality or our approach”.

Ancelotti on whether modern players lack sacrifice

“It’s difficult to compare two different eras. There were players more focused on quality than on commitment and sacrifice. Those who have quality have a hard time. To clarify a little, there are two types of players: those who run and those who make the difference, if someone wants to be in the middle it can’t be. Either you run or you make the difference.”

Ancelotti on who would start at right-back without Valverde
“Lucas Vázquez.”

Ancelotti on his favourite memory of Diego Simeone

“When I was a footballer, he scored in a Juventus-Lazio fight for the League. Lazio won and they took the League, I think it was 2000. As a coach I respect him a lot. He is a great coach. He has done very well at Atletico, he has taken them to the highest level in Europe. I like the way he reads the games, how he puts the team on the field, the strategy, the defensive commitment of the team. I like all of this very much.”

Ancelotti on the difference with other derbies

“The derby is always the same: a special match in terms of emotions and the pressure you have before a match. They are evenly matched and competitive and so will be tomorrow’s match. Atletico is having a very good season. In the last derby, we did very badly in the first half and very well in the second. We have to think about playing like we did in the second half and not playing like we did in the first half. It’s not very complicated.”