Transcript: Carlo Ancelotti’s Pre-Match Press Conference Ahead of Real Madrid vs Sevilla in La Liga
Real Madrid are set to take on Sevilla in a La Liga clash on Sunday, December 22. With league leaders Barcelona set to play second-placed Atletico Madrid, this is an important weekend for the La Liga title race.
Los Blancos, currently third in the league, dropped points in their previous La Liga game. They could only manage a 3-3 draw against Rayo Vallecano. However, they won the Intercontinental Cup and are now set to return to domestic action.
Carlo Ancelotti addressed the media ahead of the game. Read the full transcript of his press conference below courtesy of Mundo Deportivo and Real Madrid.
Q: How many points are required to win La Liga this year
Ancelotti: It will be a more competitive league. With Barcelona and Atlético , who will also fight because they have the resources to try to win this competition. It will be a very entertaining league until the end. And I think that this year we can win the league with less than 90 points.
Q: Important moments of 2024
Ancelotti: The happiest moment… There are many. It has been a fantastic, unforgettable year. Unrepeatable? I don’t know , I think it can be repeated, if we play our best because we have a very high-level squad. The European Cup is the happiest moment. The saddest… We haven’t lost many games this year, but it could be the defeat against Barcelona here at the Bernabéu.
Q: His rating of the 2024 calendar year
Ancelotti: I give it an outstanding mark considering the difficulties we have had. We have won five titles. Next year is always the same: compete, fight, fight and win the Champions League again.
🙌 INTERCONTINENTAL CUP CHAMPIONS! 🙌#WorldCham9ions | #FIFAIntercontinentalCup pic.twitter.com/Lt3G02dIjX
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) December 18, 2024
Q: What's his Christmas wish
Ancelotti: I can't ask Santa Claus not to rain down criticism on me in 2025. Criticism is sometimes a gift too. It's acceptable when you don't do things the way you should; that's nothing new.
Q: Whether it's exhausting to speak to the media so many times during the year
Ancelotti: Obviously the footballers' schedule is worse. The press conference is sometimes an entertaining moment too, I don't mind doing press conferences. Of these thousand questions, 10% can be a bit ugly at times, but, in the end, we all had a pretty good time.
Q: How he helped Brazilian suoerstars like Kaka and Vinicius Jr win the Best Player in the World award
Ancelotti: I have given them both confidence. When you give confidence to a talented player, he brings out his best. It is impossible to give confidence to everyone, because it means putting them in the game when they are not at their best. I have only given them this. And then, one wins because one has the quality to play like the best in the world.
🏆 🤝 🏆#TheBest pic.twitter.com/stgUA0i33g
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) December 17, 2024
Q: On Kylian Mbappe's form (via Real Madrid's website)
Ancelotti: He's pretty much settled in now. He's showing good form and he can still improve. He's delivered some good performances, he's recovering from the little injury he had. He's motivated and happy to be here. He needed to take this time to settle in, as anyone does, but he's done that now.
Q: On his full-back options
Ancelotti: Mendy has recovered and he's ready for tomorrow. Alaba is starting to train a little bit. He'll be back with the group after the break and he'll be able to play again by mid-January. Both full-backs have done a brilliant job after the injuries to our starting full-backs, Carvajal and Mendy. Lucas Vázquez and Fran García have done a great job after several games and have really helped the team. As for Valverde, I don't plan to play him at full-back except in the event of emergencies. Raúl is coming through there as well because he can do a job in certain games.
Q: Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham, and Kylian Mbappe's on-field connection
Ancelotti: They haven't played all together too often because at times, we've had injuries to Rodrygo or Bellingham. But it looks as though they link up really nicely and adapt to each other's attributes. Sometimes, Mbappé has played on the left, sometimes Vini comes down the middle, and others Bellingham has fallen out to the lefthand side. I'm not going to fix any four of them in a single position, I'll give them the freedom to find the right position.
📋✅ Our squad for the match!
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) December 21, 2024
🆚 @SevillaFC_ENG#RealMadridSevillaFC pic.twitter.com/eUCUVaN2Qr
Q: On the team's mobility
Ancelotti: You have to try and find that mobility because it's a crucial aspect of our attacking play. I don't ask Mbappé to be too involved in the build-up because his talents lie in running off the back of defenders. All I ask of him is to find more consistency. That's what we're encouraging him to do, it's what he must try and achieve. We have several players who can find him with that killer ball if he runs off his man.
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