Carlo Ancelotti once again came out in defense of Vinícius in the preview of the match against Celta at the Santiago Bernabéu. The Real Madrid coach assured that he has never, in his “personal history”, encountered “a player as persecuted” as the Brazilian and asked that “everyone” change his attitude towards his pupil. he.
“I have looked back in history and I have never found a player as persecuted as Vinícius. They kick him, whistle at him and insult him. And what does he have to do? He scores goals and gives assists. And then I have to talk to him for his attitude. I think everyone must change their attitude towards Vinícius. It has never happened in my personal history that a player of great talent suffers what Vinícius is suffering,” he explained at a press conference in Italian.
To defend his position on the winger, the coach recalled that “in Vallecas they gave him a karate blow to the head and there was no warning. And now they are asking for a red card for a push against Leipzig.” “I haven’t forgotten,” added Ancelotti, who advocated “not involving shirts” in this matter to make a correct evaluation.
The transalpine also positioned itself in favor of Jude Bellingham, who is out against the light blues due to the two-game suspension of punishment following his expulsion at Mestalla. “We have appealed because we think it is exaggerated, because it was not an insult. They have evaluated the aggressive way of approaching the referee. Bellingham is a player who protests like everyone else, some more exaggerated than Bellingham. We continue to think that the sanction is not correct,” he said of the Englishman, of whom he hopes the referees “have not taken his registration.”
Ancelotti was no less with Rodrygo despite the Brazilian’s scoring drought. “His story here is one of success. This year he hasn’t had continuity in goals, but when we need him he will be there,” he said of the Brazilian. The coach also announced that after the national team break, at the end of March, he will recover the injured Courtois and Militão.
From a more general perspective, the coach recognized once again that against RB Leizig, in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, they were not up to par due to “a psychological aspect”, due to the advantage of the first leg. “We have to show another attitude and another intensity. We are clear about what we have to do. We didn’t do well in the last game. Against Celta we have to show a different face,” analyzed Ancelotti, in addition to acknowledging that after the duel against Girona, “the best of the season”, they have “suffered the most”. “We may have lowered the bar. We’re not worried, obviously. We evaluate things as critically as possible,” he said.
For Ancelotti, the best version of his team is through “commitment and work.” “That has allowed us to keep a clean sheet and get good results,” he explained, although acknowledging that each game at the end of the League will be “very complicated because all the teams play a lot.”
“The League is still open. We are aware of the advantage, which we can only maintain by playing the best possible game. Barça had a difficult time against Mallorca and we will have a difficult time against Celta,” concluded the Real Madrid coach.
