Real Madrid receives Liverpool tomorrow, Wednesday, in the round of 16 of the Champions League with the tie very well on track due to the 2-5 win at Anfield but also keeping in mind what happened last season with Chelsea, who took the game to extra time after lose the first leg 1-3 at Stamford Bridge. At the press conference this morning at Valdebebas, Carlo Ancelotti stressed that it is easier for Liverpool to prepare for the game: “They will attack from minute one. We can have the result of the first leg in mind, but we are not going to make calculations. We are not going to propose a closed match but an open one and play our best offensive football. And the players understand that. We have to do both things well: defend and attack, but we think more about attacking”, he maintained.
Ancelotti acknowledged that he had put the previous year’s game against Chelsea in the dressing room: “It will help us plan a different game. And I think what I said at the beginning is very important: we will try not to make calculations and play the open game that we did in the first leg”.
The Real Madrid coach confirmed that Benzema is already recovered and that he will start the game. He did not want to comment on the scuffle between Benzema and the France coach, Didier Deschamps, whom Benzema has just called a liar for what happened at the World Cup in Qatar (which he did not play due to being injured). “Benzema is recovered and 100%, at the top, very motivated. The Champions League is very important for everyone. Regarding Deschamps, it’s something personal between the two of us. Deschamps has been my player and I respect him a lot. In Italy they say that between a couple doesn’t put their finger in. If this affects Karim? I don’t think it worries him”, he commented.
Ancelotti was also asked about how he sees Vinícius and his continuous problems with the referees: “In the last game (against Espanyol) Vinícius has been very good and has focused on the game. I think he is on the right track for write the history of Real Madrid in the coming years, as Kroos, Modric, Benzema, Casemiro have written it… a group that has been fantastic in the Champions League”.
The situation of Hazard, who barely plays and has said that he does not speak with Ancelotti, also came up at the press conference: “The relationship with Hazard is not cold. You have to value both things. I don’t talk much with him, yes, but Talking is a matter of character: you find yourself better with one person than with another. The most important thing for me is that he respects me. As I value him. That is the most important thing for me. I don’t have to hide that in his position there is a player who contributes a lot, which is Vinicius”.
Asked if he has Hazard for next season, Ancelotti did not give a clear answer: “For next season I have the players that the club gives me. Against Liverpool it is more complicated, because I have to get the best from the first minute , whatever happens. The result of the first leg puts us in doubt. We will go to the top from the first minute, but we have more doubts than the rival”.
Before Carlo Ancelotti, Antonio Rüdiger passed through the press room. When asked about Vinícius and the referees, the German wanted to speak in English to express himself better and gave a very personal answer: “This is 50-50. He has to focus on his way of playing but it’s difficult when you get so many kicks and they provoke you so much. He’s going through a learning moment. The referees have to treat him the same as others.”
The German centre-back played for Chelsea last season and suffered elimination at the hands of Madrid (in the same way that they eliminated him in the semifinals two seasons ago). Now he sees things from the other side of the barrier: “Last year it was very difficult for me to play at the Bernabéu because of the result and the recovery of Real Madrid is something I have never experienced. My previous coach (Thomas Tuchel) said that he couldn’t do anything. Everyone knows about the quality of players like Benzema, Vinícius… When you played against Madrid, my former coaches warned you that anything could happen and told me: ‘You’re playing against Real Madrid.’ the greatest.”
