Carlo Ancelotti appeared in the press room at Real Madrid City on the day prior to his side's LaLiga matchday 5 clash (Sunday, 2:00pm CEST) and named his squad to face RCD Mallorca. In this game, as earlier stated, there will be two important absences like Benzema and Militao who need to stop for a while until they get back to their optimal form. Real Madrid squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin and Luis López.
Defenders: Carvajal, Alaba, Vallejo, Nacho, Rüdiger and F. Mendy.
Midfielders: Kroos, Modrić, Camavinga, Valverde, Lucas V., Tchouameni and D. Ceballos.
Forwards: Hazard, Asensio, Vini Jr., Rodrygo and Mariano.
At the press conference, the coach assessed the game against Mallorca at the Santiago Bernabéu but also reflected on game against Celtic. He spoke in the following terms: “Mallorca have done a great job in recent games, they've been solid at the back. They've only conceded three and they were penalties. They'll set up to defend and hit us on the counter”.
He added: “We won't change our system just because Benzema is out. Hazard will play tomorrow. He hasn't got the goalscoring streak like Karim, it's been a long time since he's played and I won't ask that of him. We mustn't lose the good run we're on in front of goal, we're linking up well and moving nicely. We don't need to change anything”.
Replacing Benzema: “Hazard played against Celtic and he'll do the same tomorrow. I hope he can put in a repeat performance. Injuries happen. Benzema had a small issue against Celtic and he was out for a while in December last year too and we managed to replace him just fine. The team played brilliantly without him against Celtic, especially up top, and I hope to see more of the same tomorrow".
Then he continued: "We won't rush Benzema back. He won't play on Wednesday and then we'll see if we can get him back for the derby. If he doesn't play then, I don't think he'll join up with France. Karim scores a lot of goals and that helped us to win several trophies last year. If we're waiting on a player's fitness that's a positive thing, it's not negative”.
“This team has real quality up top with Vini Jr., Rodrygo, Hazard, Asensio and Mariano in certain games, he's very good in the air. We have loads of resources to continue our decent run. We don't have a natural replacement for the best centre forward in the world. There is no substitute for him on the market but he can be replaced by other players with different attributes”.
Vini Jr.: “Vini Jr.'s goal is to keep playing just as he has been and showing his positive attitude. He was decisive last year and has been so far this season as well. He's got consistency and his celebrations... he's Brazilian and he's a great dancer, I don't think it bothers anyone. His end product is improving and he's scoring goals on a regular basis. You don't see him miss many chances. I would say he's still eager to improve and wants to maintain his great attitude".
Courtois: “He had a small knee problem but he's trained normally. He's fine. He's been in a bit of discomfort for a few days but he'll play tomorrow”.
Real Madrid's style: “Madrid deserves the credit it gets and scoring a goal from a 33-pass play doesn't mean that's our whole identity. The game was almost over and we wanted to finish it out with a long spell of possession. The stats say it's easier to score in under ten passes. The numbers show very few goals come from over ten passes. You could say that playing a possession-based game which has been fashionable and has seen success in recent years. Football is changing and it's more direct. Possession football is less popular than it has been recently in every country”.
Squad rotation: “We have a whole load of data and we have to consider the number of minutes played. These are things that simply confirm what I see with my own eyes. If I see a player is fatigued and the data says the same thing, that player will get a rest. If I see a player who looks fresh, even if the data says he's tired, he's going to play”.
A short comment on Ceballos: “He may well play tomorrow".
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