Carlo Ancelotti addressed the media in the virtual press conference at Real Madrid City ahead of tomorrow´s clash on matchday 26 of LaLiga, which will see our side go head to head with Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio de Vallecas (Saturday, 6:30pm CET): “It’ll be a tough game for us because Rayo have been playing really well this season and especially at home. They’ll make it tough for us, but we´ve trained well and the team is prepared. Let´s hope we can put on a good performance”.
He continued: “I´m optimistic. We have to assess what is happening. We haven´t had a good spell since the Super Cup for several reasons, but now we´re in a better place. We played well against Alavés. We reacted well and played some good stuff in the second half. This week’s training sessions have allowed us to improve and I hope we can show this in Vallecas”.
The importance of Asensio: "He´s clearly got a lot of quality, he can enjoy that and that´s better for the team. He´s been playing really well, he´s motivated and in good physical condition. He´s proved to be the difference in many games He´s opened the scoring many times and he killed the game off against Atlético. They´re not just goals, they´re really important goals”.
Bale and Alaba: "Bale isn´t going to play. He´s got a muscle problem this week like Alaba, and they´ll both miss the game. They´ll be back in training next week”.
Differences between the first and second half: “It´s hard to say. It´s not physical, because if it was a physical problem you don´t play well in the first half and you don´t play well in the second. We normally do well in the second half. We´ve spoken about it and it´s good for us to be playing Rayo, as they´re a side who´ve scored a lot of goals in the first 30 minutes in the league. So we´ll try to get off to a good start tomorrow”.
Barcelona´s improvement: “I´ve seen all the games and they´ve played well. It isn´t easy to win away at Napoli and they put on a complete performance and managed to win. Barcelona are a side who will always be fighting for the league title, and that goes for this year too, even though they are behind they´re playing well.”
Change of system: “We didn´t start this season with a very clearly-defined system. Sometimes we´ve defended with a 4-4-2 and after the defeat to Espanyol we tried to defend as a deep unit. It worked out well for us because we won ten straight games but then we´ve found it more difficult to counter attack with the deep unit. We´re thinking about using a block but higher up to press further forward and get more control when we don´t have the ball”.
Replacements for Casemiro and Mendy: “What can I say? It´s an idea that can be used if we have friendlies, but we don´t have any. Before the PSG game, we have two finals because if we could win in Vallecas and against Real it would be crucial for the league. So I´m going to put out my best team against Rayo and Real Sociedad before we play PSG. One player who can replace Casemiro is Kroos and he doesn´t need to adapt to the position because he´s played their many times. As I said, I´ve got players with vast experience and I don´t need to try things out. I know what they can give me in these types of games and I haven´t thought today or before about a player the replace Casemiro or Mendy. Because first we have two finals to play”.
Winning the league or the Champions League: “It´s all important. We started the season with the aim of winning four competitions. We´ve won one of them, the Super Cup. We couldn´t quite manage the Copa del Rey and we´re fighting for two more. It´ll be important to win, whether it´s the league or the Champions League. The important thing is to win trophies at the end of the season”.
If he would bet on winning the league: “I don´t bet on anything because it doesn´t make sense. We´re doing well in the league and we have to continue to do so”.
Comparisons with the 2015 side: “These moments happen. Sometimes injuries affect the most important players. We´ve been combining tactical and technical work with physical training. And it´s gone well so far. We´re going to try to improve in this area and we´re also trying to change some things tactically. We want to be more aggressive, press higher up because I think the team has the energy to do so”.
Situation in Russia and Ukraine: "I’ve spoken to Lunin and so has the club president to give him our full our support. We know it´s a difficult moment, especially for him. The war is a horrible thing and the only thing the club can do is be close to him and show him our support. He´s worried because he has people close to him in Kiev. His mother, friends, so it´s normal for him to be concerned. This naturally affects his spirit. Training can be a welcome distraction from these things. He´s a true professional and obviously all of this affects him”.
War: “I agree with Nadal. It´s really strange for this to be happening in 2022, but it´s happening and we have to think about it unfortunately. It´s going to change our lives. I just hope it can be solved soon because it´s really strange to be thinking about this in 2022. I´ve already experienced it. My grandfather was in the First World War, my father in the Second, and they told me a lot of things. It´s a real horror situation”.
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