Carlo Ancelotti, who marked his 179th game as Real Madrid coach against Espanyol (132 wins, 22 draws and 25 defeats), spoke in the press room at the RCDE Stadium after the game vs Espanyol. The Italian Boss who just climbed ahead of Mourinho (178) as the coach who has overseen the sixth most games in the club's history, sees his team starting the fresh season in the best way possible with three wins in three games. As he trails Miguel Munoz (605), Zidane (263), Del Bosque (246), Beenhakker (197) and Molowny (183) who are ahead of him, everyone is conscious that he is the main reason for this great period of Madrid.
Setting the emphasis on the physical resources, the coach gave his analysis of Real Madrid's win over Espanyol on LaLiga matchday three as follows: "Camavinga was already instrumental last season. When the game is stretched his energy gives us a boost, just like that of Rodrygo, Valverde or Vinicius. The reason we won the game was because we had more energy than our opponents on the pitch".
"We had a very good start. We controlled the game well and struck early. We then dropped our intensity a bit, we weren't effective up front and it became more difficult after they equalised because there were a lot of stoppages. The game became end to end and that suited us", he added.
Change in intensity: "We were very slow. We weren't able to transition well at the start of the second half and they set up well defensively. We were struggling so I decided to change the intensity of the game".
Hazard: "Hazard might have been an option, but I didn't want to unbalance the team. We already had Rodrygo, Vinicius and Karim playing. Bringing on another forward could have been risky. He has my full backing and it's not a problem if he doesn't play, doesn't get on the pitch or doesn't warm up. He will get playing time. I'm not Hazard's, Benzema's, Mendy's, Camavinga's or Valverde's coach. I'm Real Madrid's coach.
The coach continued: “Each game is a different story. If I’d started with Rodrygo and Camavinga we might not have had so much control in the first 25 minutes. If Kroos and Modric had come on instead, we might not have had that energy that we had. But choosing is like betting. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Today, the Real Madrid coach made a good bet”.
Squad: “If I wanted to protect a player I’d leave them at home. I made four changes and it could’ve been five. But I could’ve used any player and I decided to send on Dani for the last change because he’s got more experience”.
Rüdiger and Alaba: “I wanted to have more aerial presence and Rüdiger perhaps has more than Alaba. But Alaba is incredible going forward“.
Back to the record: Ancelotti's games have been divided between LaLiga (117), Champions League (38), Copa del Rey (16), Spanish Super Cup (4), Club World Cup (2) and European Super Cup (2). As Real Madrid coach, he has won eight titles: 2 Champions League, 1 Club World Cup, 2 European Super Cups, 1 LaLiga, 1 Copa del Rey and 1 Spanish Super Cup.
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