“We are going to do it not well, very well”
MADRID, 11 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, has assured that if Dani Olmo plays the final of the Spanish Super Cup this Sunday they will have to “try to take away a little of the quality he has” with good defensive work, and has stated that they will have to work in the “balance” of the team to have options.
“It is a match that is not predictable. We are very clear about what we have to do to reduce the risk, but no one can predict the result. What we can control is the performance in the match. I am convinced that tomorrow we will act good. Not good, very good. But this does not 100% determine the result, at all,” he declared at a press conference.
In this sense, he stressed that they arrive “well”, with “a lot of enthusiasm and great desire as always before a final.” “The small problems we had in the match against Mallorca have been resolved and all the players are available. We arrived as always, with great enthusiasm and taking into account the difficulties, but the confidence that we have prevails, as always, in the finals “he indicated.
Furthermore, the Italian coach stressed that in the Classics “quality prevails over team balance, individual play prevails over collective play.” “There is a lot of individual quality on the field that prevails over collective play. An important aspect of tomorrow’s game will be balance, collective work that is just defense. If you defend well, there is a better chance of winning,” he stressed.
The duel comes after the 4-0 defeat by the Madrid fans at the Bernabéu in the first round. “We have to think about what happened in the first game because they beat us. We have made a fairly clear evaluation of what happened: we started the game well, then we had problems in the second half. We will have to try to repeat the good things we did and avoid the mistakes of the second half. The Clásico is always a Clásico, and it also puts even more pressure when it is a final. We have played against Barcelona many times and a final against Barcelona is always something special,” he insisted.
“It’s a defeat, the season continues. It’s a final. We are very close to another title. Obviously, we think positively, but we are aware that in football anything can happen, especially when the rival is strong and competes very well as it has. “Barcelona has always competed in these types of games. The team has improved, no one can deny it. A defeat would not be good, but the team does not go back, it continues forward,” he continued.
On that occasion, Hansi Flick’s risky offside strategy paid off for the Blaugranas. “It is an important aspect that we have looked at and that we have to counteract,” Ancelotti said. “Barcelona is a historic rival. The games we play against them are always very competitive, very difficult. It is difficult for us, it is difficult for them. The result of the match cannot be predicted,” he added.
The white coach also insisted on the “value” of the Spanish Super Cup “on a statistical level.” “The season in which we won the Super Cup went very well, because we also won LaLiga and the Champions League. The season in which we did not win the Super Cup, we did not win LaLiga or the Champions League. It is a game that gives you much more motivation and more dynamics to continue well in the season,” he said.
He also downplayed the possibility of Dani Olmo playing and scoring, after Barça achieved the very precautionary request of the Higher Sports Council (CSD). “It would happen that we have not been able to stop a player who is very strong and that everyone knows it. If Dani Olmo is going to play, what we have to think about is trying to take away a little of the quality he has with our defense “he explained.
In another vein, he acknowledged that he “doesn’t” ask the players “a lot” before these types of games. “I don’t like to insist too much with videos, they don’t last much more than 15 minutes. I leave them a lot of freedom. They have a good time together, there is a good atmosphere between them. I don’t know what they do in the room and I don’t want to know,” he said , before ensuring that Jude Bellingham “has recovered well.” “It was a burden, as usually happens. It is very important because he has a good streak and a good dynamic, and, like other players in this period, he has made a difference,” he explained.
On the other hand, he did not want to comment on the Real Madrid TV videos about the match referee, Jesús Gil Manzano. “He has refereed many important matches. Real Madrid TV has every right to talk about anything,” he stated, and acknowledged that they “do not” think about the possibility of winning seven titles this season. “We take into account that there is something special in the summer, a World Cup in July, when usually all the players are on vacation. We don’t think about this, we think about doing well in each game and nothing more. The Club World Cup is very far away, but It will be an entertaining competition,” he said.
Finally, Ancelotti appreciated Hansi Flick’s punishment of Iñaki Peña for arriving late to training. “The schedule is an important part. The players have to be disciplined, because when you are in a group you don’t like the whole group waiting for you. I want explanations for the delay, and the player who arrives late explains what happened and the reason why it has arrived late. If the reason is acceptable, nothing happens; if the reason is not acceptable, we take action,” he concluded.