On the award for Best Club of the Year, received by City: “The most important award was received by us in May”
MADRID, 18 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, stated this Tuesday that “it is a compliment” that they say that his team “is ‘cholista'” because of the way they play, at the same time that he stressed that the “most important award” was received by the merengue team “in May” when lifting the Champions.
“We are very proud of what Karim (Benzema) and Courtois have achieved. Also for Modric, Vinicius, all the players. Congratulate the other winners, Gavi, Alexia, Lewandowski, and also City, who we respect a lot and have done a fantastic season”, analyzed the Italian about the Ballon d’Or Gala at a press conference from Valdebebas.
Ancelotti admitted that at the club they feel the prestigious award received by Benzema “a little” their own. “It’s an individual award, but with the help of a team. We have to think about the next Ballon d’Or, it can start tomorrow for that,” he pushed Benzema, with more “responsibility” now, to continue improving.
“He is more of a leader than eight years ago. Technically he has not changed much, what has changed is his responsibility for the team and his attitude, he is much more of a leader,” he reflected on the Frenchman.
The coach acknowledged that goalkeepers have a handicap when it comes to receiving individual awards, and added that he was “surprised” by the absence of “Kroos, Valverde, Militao, Alaba…” among the candidates for the award. “Someone may think that I have a conflict of interest, and it’s true, I do,” he joked, after pointing out that Vinicius’s eighth place “is fair”, since it will allow him to “try to improve what he did last year “.
However, after the award received on Monday by Manchester City as the Best Club of the season, he insisted that “the best team was Real Madrid, who won the Champions League”. “Talking about this seems to me to be disrespectful to a club that did well last year, we beat them for small details and they won the Premier. The most important award we received was in May,” he alluded in reference to the achievement of the fourteenth European Cup.
Asked about his team’s style and the comparisons with Diego Pablo Simeón’s Atlético de Madrid, Ancelotti stated that “it’s a compliment, it’s a good thing”. “I saw Atlético play against Athletic and it was very entertaining. I heard from Simeone that these types of games excite him and I agree with him. That commitment excites a coach. When they say that this Madrid is ‘cholista’, it is a compliment “, he expressed.
Real Madrid visits Elche this Wednesday on matchday ten of LaLiga Santander, a duel for which they will have to “push a little more” in preparing for the match on a mental level after El Clásico. “It is normal to have maximum concentration in high-level matches. But it is more difficult to have it after a match that has cost you a lot physically and mentally. We take that into account, knowing that we are playing for three points, the same ones we won in El Clasico,” said Ancelotti, announcing that Courtois “will not play”, who will be against Sevilla this Saturday.
Questioned about the future of the team, he acknowledged that he does not know “what will happen”, although “the future of Real Madrid and this team is already written” for the Italian, thanks to his “young players” such as Vinicius, Valverde, Rodrigo, Camavinga. “Next year’s squad will not be this year’s, but they have already pointed out the future of Real Madrid,” he stressed.
Finally, he praised the “history” and “tradition” of the club, in which it is not “surprising” to win, since you enjoy “everything you need to succeed”. “At the beginning of the season last year it was much harder than now,” he settled.
