ANCELOTTI:"WE MUST BRING THE FIRST PART OF THE SEASON TO A GOOD CONCLUSION"
Carlo Ancelotti spoke in the press room at Real Madrid City ahead of the LaLiga matchday 14 clash against Cádiz (Thursday, 9:30 CET). The coach discussed the game at the Santiago Bernabéu: "It's our last home game of a fantastic and unforgettable year, particularly in our stadium. We've experienced some magical nights and this game will be a good way to finish on a high. We've got a lot of things to do, putting in a good performance, regaining that positive feeling and most of all remembering this year, which has been unforgettable".
Vini Jr. "It seems that Vinicius is being provocative, but the fact of the matter is that he's the most fouled player, the most slapped, the most pushed. That's the truth. In football and on a personal level, respecting all players and not disrespecting them is something that football has to achieve with every player. Not only with Vinicius, every player. There's a word that's fair play, in other countries it's much more commonly used. It's the biggest part of football, meaning to play correctly".
"He's to become better at not reacting to provocations. Provoking players is not fair play. You go on the pitch to play football, not to provoke players. It's also provoking through words, not just with legs. Vini is a very young player and will improve. He loves football and wants to play as good as he can. What does he have to learn? It's not usual to be provoked. He can't be taught to ignore provocation because the idea is that it doesn't exist in football. I can explain to Vini how to not get involved in it".
Benzema "I'm disappointed that Karim hasn't been able to support the team with his quality in the last few games. The niggle has come back, which is only a small thing. He tried to make himself available, but wasn't able to". "Benzema is the first one who's disappointed with this situation. He's about to play in a World Cup when he hasn't been given the minutes to go into it in good shape. I don't believe that they've dropped him, that's nonsense. He had a minor problem, but it was nothing serious. He's trained on his own, but didn't feel ready to play. He's going to play in a World Cup as the Ballon d'Or winner without getting minutes in his legs".
Evaluation of the season so far "The last part, that hasn't been good. Especially with the last two games. Losing against Leipzig didn't really affect us because we finished top of the group. We've achieved our goals, the European Super Cup and top spot in the Champions League. We could have done better in the league. Some missing players have affected us, like Karim. Rodrygo Vini Jr. and Valverde have played very well, but Karim and Thibaut's absence has affected us. Courtois' missing six games has also affected us. I'm not here looking for excuses. The first part of the season has gone the way we wanted it to. Unfortunately the last few games didn't go well, but we want to put that behind us in tomorrow's game". Intensity of the opposition "The level of intensity we've played with in a lot of games has dropped. You can see this drop in intensity when facing teams that aren't playing in Europe, like Rayo. They can play at a higher intensity than other teams. That's pretty normal. You can see the difference when you come up against teams that play in international competitions".
Player dynamics "It's important to rotate, but you have to take into account how players are playing. It would be strange to take Rodyrgo or Valverde off when they're scoring. We've been rotating quite a lot in this first part of the season, but you have to take into account how players are playing". Asensio "Marco has been at his best in the last few games. He's contributed a lot in terms of assists and his work rate. He's shown a strong character in difficult times and what he's doing now on the pitch is a well-deserved reward. I've not thought about saving any player. I believe in all my players, in their professionalism, their reliability and while they're here they will give their all". Tchouameni "His injury has stopped his from getting a run of game, but he's coming back. He needs to work on his positioning and get used to playing alongside other players. Just like all the young players, he can improve. There is a different Tchouameni with Kroos and without him. Kroos' presence is helping him in this respect".
Did Benzema fear he might miss the World Cup? "He didn't panic. He was back from injury against Celtic and the latest niggles aren't serious. The World Cup wasn't at risk for him because they're small things". Training "The World Cup is here and people will have their opinions. I've not seen any players holding back in training. Training is very competitive and there are more tackles than in a match. They don't hold back and I've not seen anything like that. Everyone is focused at the moment. We've not had a good spell, but we were doing well a month ago and no one was talking about this. The World Cup was still there a month ago". World Cup "The structures of the competitions change with a World Cup in the winter. We've already played a lot of Champions League matches. Playing a World Cup in Qatar in the summer is impossible. We'll see what happens and sure it'll be an entertaining World Cup. There is no one favourite. Players aren't going in to it exhausted like when it's at the end of the season, they're going into it in the best possible shape".
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ANCELOTTI:"WE MUST BRING THE FIRST PART OF THE SEASON TO A GOOD CONCLUSION"
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