"I put the players where they should be this year"

After Real Madrid's victory over Barcelona in the Bernabeu, Madrid's manager spoke in the press conference about his team's performance against the former first-placed side. 

In the press conference, he was asked about what he did in the 2021/22 season, to which he responded: "I thought last season that I over-complicated something... and in today's game I tried not to over-complicate it and put the players in their correct positions. I want to highlight Modric's game, who was excellent against his opposing number".

However, the boss is very grateful for the shift his players put in: "Kroos and Valverde were special today, solid anchors. The Uruguayan is getting used to playing in that position, he is scoring and has a spectacular talent and energy". "It was clear that Miilitao had to put pressure on Lewandowski, we controlled them well between the lines with Toni and Tchouameni!"

"The five changes help a lot if you have people on the bench who deserve to be starting, but you leave them out because you cannot have everyone. It was all about getting energy into the midfield with Valverde and waiting, because if it did not go well, we had Rodrygo and Camavinga", Ancelotti added about the the importance of having a balanced squad.

To finish up, the manager mentioned that despite having pressed high for most of the game, they could not maintain that rhythm. Therefore, he said that the refereeing was very good, as well as that Madrid were better in the first half, given that they defended very well against a side who like to press very high".

Ancelotti assessed the win and expressed his recognition of the role that his team played, despite it being only three points that they got off their main rival, who did had a lot of firepower, and said that there is still a long way to go in the season.

 

October 16, 2022