MADRID, 29 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, assured that he will line up an eleven “to win” Espanyol this Saturday and close the LaLiga Santander title and that only the “risk of getting injured” could be an impediment to giving breaks for the second leg against Manchester City, while he did not want to value what it would mean to win in five different championships because he is “very superstitious” and has not yet achieved it.
“I think that Benzema and Vinicius can rest, but I am in favor of the fact that if a player is well and has recovered well, he has to play. At this moment, the squad is healthy, there are many who are physically well and if someone who needs to rest will I will give, but not because the game seems easy but because if he has not recovered well he is at risk of getting injured”, Ancelotti stressed this Friday at a press conference.
The Italian recalled that he only has “problems in defense” because David Alaba’s injury, suffering from the same problem as in El Sadar and whose presence against City will not be clear “until Tuesday”, adds the casualties due to Eder’s suspension Militao and Nacho. Thus, he confirmed to Jesús Vallejo, “that he has played very little, but he is a very serious professional”, and the possibility of putting Casemiro there, “who is recovered”.
“In midfield I have many options because almost everyone has recovered well, but I have Camavinga and Ceballos fresh, and up top I have to choose. Asensio is fresh and I have to assess if Karim can start because let’s see if he has fully recovered. I will put a team To win the game, I just have to prevent someone who is tired from getting injured”, he added.
In this sense, he pointed out that “the player’s opinion is very important”, but that “the decision” of whether to play or not “is made by the coach”. “In my career, I haven’t found many who have told me he shouldn’t play him because he’s tired,” he warned.
Regarding the match against Espanyol, against which a point will help him to be crowned champion, the Reggiolo player indicated that “it’s not difficult” mentally. “We are aware that we are very close to winning a title, but we have to play and get points in these games because it is not over yet. We would like to finish it tomorrow and the team is aware of the moment and the game we have to play”, he stressed.
Nor have they “thought” about any type of celebration and whether it would be more or less intense. “We’ve only thought about the game and if we have to celebrate later, we’re going to celebrate it like everyone else, but we haven’t organized anything, we just have to prepare well for the game and try to win it,” said the Madrid coach.
HE DOES NOT TALK ABOUT THE TITLES IN FIVE LEAGUES BECAUSE HE IS “VERY SUPERSTICIOUS”
“The title is very close, we have worked hard and I don’t think there will be a moment of relaxation. I think nobody thought that at this point in the season we would have a 15-point advantage, but the team has done very well, winning many times away at home in difficult stadiums and I think we made the difference there. I am very satisfied with the work and support of the club and the players,” he said of a campaign in which the offensive aspect “has been constant, obviously thanks to Benzema and Vinicius” and with “periods of very good defensive work.”
Asked about the possibility of becoming the first coach to win the five major leagues, Ancelotti was cautious. “I don’t really like to talk about this because I haven’t gotten it yet and I’m a bit superstitious,” he confessed with a smile. “I don’t consider myself old for football, I consider myself an experienced coach and I try to adapt. Football is not going to stop changing and you have to keep up with the times,” he added.
The Italian did recognize how special it would be to savor this title with his son Davide as assistant. “It is not easy for me to talk about this because of the emotional and family aspect. He is a very competent and serious assistant. He is my son and he has shown that he is not here for that but because he is competent and can become a coach in the future. very good. There is a young coaching staff with a lot of enthusiasm, and it combines well with my experience,” he stressed.
He also had words of praise for Marcelo, who could become the player with the most titles in the club’s history and who “has suffered because he hasn’t played many games.” “But he is still a fantastic professional and feels the weight of being the captain. He has always trained well and has always been with his teammates, he and many others deserved more minutes, but the times he has done so, he has delivered and will deliver. My respect for the person and the player,” he said of the Brazilian.
Finally, after making it clear that there is no need to “strengthen” the position of midfielder to take over from Casemiro because that role can be played by “Kroos, Camavinga or Ceballos”, Ancelotti admitted that the coaches “
“They cannot tell the whole truth” when they go out to a press conference and avoided commenting on the words of Mauricio Pochettino, PSG coach, about seeing Kylian Mbappé “one hundred percent” in the French team.
“All madridistas are now thinking of two things: beating Espanyol and on Wednesday and we are thinking the same thing. Since the end of the City game we have our heads in this game, the great tennis players, when they have a match ball, they win it, the big teams, like us, when they have to hit the table, they hit it,” he said.
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