Real Madrid News
Ancelotti talks Lewandowski, Valverde, Militao, Laporta following 3-1 win over Barcelona
Real Madrid avenged their 4-0 defeat against Barcelona from last year with a dominant win over the Blaugranas at the same venue. Los Blancos dominated the first half, and while the second half may not have been their best, it saw some resilient defence that earned them the win.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side move to the top of the league table with this result and have a sizeable lead over their rivals. The manager spoke to the press after his team’s win and addressed topics ranging from Federico Valverde to the refereeing. Here are the snippets from Ancelotti’s presser.
On controlling Robert Lewandowski: “I used Miltão to put pressure on Lewandowski.”
On the team’s strategy: “After last time, I wanted to make sure we played a more simple game.”
On the first half: “The key part of today has been our first half. We were a lot better. We’ve been lethal in attack.”
On his midfielders: “Kroos and Valverde were very good today. They helped a lot in creating from the flanks.”
On Federico Valverde: “Valverde is getting used to play in the new position. He’s a spectacular player.”
On the three points: “We have earned these 3 points. We got them from our direct rival so it’s very important.”
On Aurelien Tchouameni: “Tchouaméni is very young but he has a big personality, he’s amazing. It looks like he’s been here for years because he plays alongside Modrić and Kroos so it’s easier.”
On Laporta protesting the refereeing: “Laporta went to the locker room to complain about the referee? I think the referee was fair. He did his job.”
On registering a rampant win: “A ‘goleada’ against Barcelona? That’s another football (laughs), we only care about winning.”
On the mentality of his team: “We’ve become more united as a team after what happened last season. Same with our fans at the Bernabéu. It looked like a Champions League night today.”
On Eder Militao’s role: “I asked Militao to be more aggressive on Lewandowski and Alaba to keep the game controlled.”
Source: Real Madrid Twitter
In what could be a real deal breaker for Real Madrid ahead of their Copa del Rey semi-final second leg clash against Barcelona, it has been revealed that as many as three Barça will be absent from the game while another key player remains a major doubt.
The list includes the likes of Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Andreas Christensen. The trio is certain to miss the game through respective injuries while a certain Frenkie de Jong is more or less ruled out, as per Javi Miguel.
It must be remembered that Barcelona are heading into the second leg with a 1-0 advantage. But the absence of the aforementioned players means Madrid can work on exploiting the frailties.
Despite the absence of such big names, Barcelona did pretty well against Elche in their previous outing, coming out 4-0 victorious, with the goals coming from Robert Lewandowski, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.
With options lacking in midfield, Xavi decided to use the likes of Sergi Roberto and Eric Garcia along with Gavi in the heart of the lineup. In any way, they do have Sergio Busquets and Franck Kessie as backups if needed.
The defence, on the other hand, was perfectly guarded by Jordi Alba, Marcos Alonso, Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde.
One can expect Xavi to once again interchange Araujo with Kounde on the right since the Uruguayan has been rather successful in minimizing the threat of Vinicius Jr.
As far as Madrid are concerned, they are sweating over the fitness of three key defenders, namely, Antonio Rudiger, Nacho, and Ferland Mendy. Between these three, the Frenchman is out for about a month while Rudiger and Nacho are expected to be back before the Clasico.
If there are no casualties against Real Valladolid, Madrid will have a perfect midfield and attack, with only Mariano Diaz missing.
