Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti endeavoured to steer clear of questions about his side’s Supercopa de Espana defeat to Barcelona last Sunday as his team prepared to face Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey, Soccernet.football reports.
Ancelotti had witnessed his side suffer a crushing 5-2 loss to their Clasico rivals, a victory that handed Barcelona their first trophy under Hansi Flick in Jeddah. After the match, a frustrated Ancelotti criticized his team, stating they had “chosen not to play football.”
The sting of that defeat appeared to linger during Ancelotti’s pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday’s Round of 16 clash against Claudio Giráldez’s side. Los Blancos’ head coach avoided addressing questions about potential January signings and gave a curt response when asked about his squad’s commitment and attitude.
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“This is a press conference and not a debate. I’ve already done the debate with my technical staff and my players to find the best solutions possible,” Ancelotti warned as quoted by ESPN.
“I don’t think this is the right place to open a debate. I don’t follow the wave of criticism, that one day you are the best and the next your are the dumbest. Fortunately, thanks to my experience, I have balance. I don’t think I’m the best but I don’t think I’m the dumbest, either.
“It was a step back but we have to look ahead because we are still in a good position in every competition. It hurt us a lot but it didn’t sink us.
“Obviously it was a bad game, we made a ton of mistakes. We analysed it, evaluated it and found solutions. A month ago we won the Club World Cup [FIFA’s Intercontinental iteration] and six months ago we won the Champions League.
“We are competing. We lost one game, it was a final, it hurt but we’ve won many finals. It was a heavy loss but it was just one game. We are doing well in every competition and we are going to continue fighting.”
