The international break is over and now players have to get back to their clubs. Real Madrid has been preparing for the restart during the whole time with the players that were not in international duty who were then joined on Wednesday by those who returned from their national teams. Carlo Ancelotti appeared in the media room at Real Madrid City on the day prior to the LaLiga matchday seven clash, which will be the first game of a very busy month. He spoke about the Osasuna game, his players, the calendar and also about the World Cup.
Carlo Ancelotti also named his squad for the LaLiga matchday seven meeting between Real Madrid and Osasuna at the Santiago Bernabéu (Sunday, 9:00pm CEST) as follows:
REAL MADRID SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin y Cañizares.
Defenders: Carvajal, Militão, Alaba, Vallejo, Nacho, Odriozola, Rüdiger and F. Mendy.
Midfielders: Kroos, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni and D. Ceballos.
Forwards: Hazard, Benzema, Asensio, Vini Jr., Rodrygo and Mariano.
The coach assessed the game against Osasuna saying: "We're at a crucial stage of the season, we have a lot of games in a short period of time. We're starting out on a second important spell because we have LaLiga and the Champions League. Rotating will be vital. We're lucky enough to have a very strong squad and all the players will be committed and show their quality during this period".
"It's a key stage of the season and the challenge is to deliver in every single match. We have to put together a strong run in LaLiga and qualify for the Champions League Round of 16 before World Cup. The team looks good, they're motivated and showing great attitude", he added.
Benzema to start: "He's in great shape, he'll start tomorrow's game. He's trained well with the group all week. His fitness is absolutely fine because he's had time to recover and get some energy back in his legs. He looks good to me and he'll be playing".
Calendar: "The biggest issue is the calendar, it's extremely compressed and we have a lot of games. The institutions have to work together to fix this because the problem is too many games".
Modrić: "Luka has had a slight issue, it's nothing serious. He's cutting it very fine to be able to play on Wednesday. He'll start training with the team on Monday. We'll have to see if he's okay for Wednesday and if not, he'll be back for the next league match".
Asensio and Hazard: "They're fine. They have played for their national teams and that was ideal to improve their match sharpness. They're ready to contribute to the team in these games".
Rodrygo: "Rodrygo is in my best team".
He continued: “Whenever I've spoken to the national team coaches, it's been to inform them about the players. I don't call national coaches during the international break".
Players with less minutes: “The players understand the situation. They're training well and that's the most important thing. I need them and they'll be ready to play. That's the key thing for the guys who are playing less minutes”.
Valverde's performances: “Fede has a lot of Gerrard about him. It's great to see him being compared to such a successful player. Fede has everything he needs to get to the levels we want from him and even more".
Benzema's start: “He hasn't scored in recent games because he hasn't played. I see no issue with Karim. He's training very well. Perhaps he didn't get a full pre-season and that has affected him slightly. Following this spell, we'll see the Karim we know and love, he's a spectacular player”.
World Cup: “We don't know what's going to happen. We're thinking about how to handle the players who come back from the World Cup. We might play with the guys who stay here up until the middle of January. We have to differentiate between the guys who play and those who don't, because not everyone who goals to the World Cup will play. They'll need a rest when they get back and we'll give them 10 days' holiday. We can't do a pre-season because that won't be necessary after only 10 days' rest”.
El Clásico: “El Clásico is some way off. We've got more important games first, like the Osasuna one. We've prepared well for tomorrow's game because the players look in great shape. Next up, we'll turn our attention to Wednesday's game. We can't be thinking about a match that is two weeks away. Our goal in tomorrow’s game, as well as on Wednesday and next Sunday, is to win”.
Lucas Vázquez: “Lucas has been back training partially with the group. He might be available again for Wednesday, or Saturday. He's in the same position as Modrić”.
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