Ancelotti, in its purest form: favourite to win the Champions League, a ‘higher’ objective than Xavi and two confirmed starters
The Italian coach appeared before the media prior to the Champions League debut against Unión Berlin at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The morning started at Real Madrid City with the news of Dani Carvajal’s muscle injury, which will make him miss the debut in the Champions League and the Derby, and ended with an exhibition by Carlo Ancelotti, who answered everything except the related question. With the conflict of the women’s team, and the Eduardo Camavinga show, who conquered everyone present with his eternal smile (the most similar to Ronaldinho that I have seen in the world of football) and perfect Spanish.
The Italian coach appeared in the Valdebebas press room the day before the match against Unión Berlin, corresponding to the first day of Group C of the Champions League (6:45 p.m.; Movistar Champions League), where he analysed the favourite to This edition, he launched a bigger objective than the one Xavi Hernández assured yesterday and confirmed two starters.
Carvajal injury
“Carvajal has an overload, and we wanted to give him rest to avoid problems. We will do tests on him tomorrow. He feels fine, and we believe it is nothing serious, I hope he can recover soon. As of today, he has the option of playing on Sunday. The player’s feelings, “They are pretty good. Lucas Vázquez is going to play for Carvajal.”
Aim
“Passing the Group Stage, the round of 16, the quarter-finals… We want to compete until the end. Reaching the quarter-finals is a goal we can achieve.”
Favourites to win the title
“Manchester City is a favourite because it has a squad that allowed it to win last year and has not changed much. But in the Champions League, as always, in the final part there are surprises. I see Real Madrid as a team that is going to compete until the end. We never think we are favourites, just as I don’t think City think so. They won last year, you can say they are the favourites.”
Conversations with Modric
“Luka is fine, and we talk, as with all players. The personal relationship is very good. Mutual. Professionally, sometimes, it can happen that he is not playing like before. But the human relationship is always going to be fantastic. Tomorrow is going to be substitute… no, he’s going to play!”
Words from Xavi Hernández
“The objective is to get through the group stage, the quarter-finals… and compete until the end. Among the first four, we can say it without having too much pressure. It is an objective that we can achieve”
Union Berlin
“They are a new team in the Champions League, but if they are here, it means they have done very well. They have good defensive organization, they are solid, and they play with intensity. We have studied them well, and hopefully we can play a good game tomorrow.”
Do you see Nadal as president?
“The time I have spent here I have had a president who is Florentino, and he is doing a fantastic job, I can’t think of a better president. We are very proud that Nadal, whom we totally admire, is a Real Madrid fan.”