Ancelotti: “The team is not at its best, and there is no game at this level that is easy”

Carlo Ancelotti

Real Madrid gets out against Valencia in the penalty shootout. A news that is far from pleasing the Madridista, even if in the end the club is in the final. But the truth is that this team of Carl Ancelotti is very catchable by anyone, and the coach always tries to hide it. At least that’s what his impressions after the Spanish Supercup semi-final suggest.

What did you think of the game? Suffered, complicated, but there is no game at this level that is easy. It is true that we made it a little more difficult for them with an obvious mistake. The first half was good and the end was good. And the opponent fought back well. We are happy. The team is not at its best. We need to improve, but we did. We suffered, we didn’t play at times.”

What happened in the second half, after the 1-1 draw, was it mental, was it physical? It was not physical because at the end we were better, we tried to attack and not to go for penalties. We are not at a high level, it is normal, there are players who arrived recently and we have to find the best condition. We were affected by the physical problems of Camavinga, Lucas, Militao? We put players at the limit like Carvajal and Mendy. It was a difficult game, but the good thing is that we are in the final. It’s a unique season, with a World Cup in between, we had 14 players there and 20 days after the end of the World Cup, the level can not be higher.”

The 1-1 draw was the kind of inattention you complained about: “It was an episode, the block was compact in this game, but the game was an individual movement, but a collective mistake. We did not put pressure on the center and we did not read that pass well.”

How are Camavinga, Lucas and Militao : “Camavinga received a blow to his knee, it bothered him. Lucas, I think it’s a sprained ankle. And Militao is dizzy, he was fine. We need to evaluate Camavinga, and Lucas seems to be the most serious. I don’t think Camavinga and Militao will have any problems.”

What good conclusion do you draw from this? To reach the final is what we wanted. Usually, in the final, we do well. Let’s see what happens. It’s a different moment than last year, we’re going to fight for the Super Cup.”

Will you have problems defending the final? “No, I think we will have a competitive defense on Sunday. Carvajal and Mendy have shown that they are fully recovered. We need to see Militao and Camavinga, but the defense will be competitive.”

How did you set up the penalty shootout : “I put the three most experienced, coolest players first. Benzema, Modric and Kroos, the best. Then Asensio, who has a very good shot. Then there was Vinicius… but it’s better that he didn’t shoot… (laughs).”

What was the atmosphere? The atmosphere was fantastic, it felt like home. We liked it very much. We celebrated the victory all together and now we will go to the final.”

Govea Agbomahena

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