Real Madrid, currently second in La Liga, travels to Catalonia on Saturday for a match against the league leader. No, it's not Barcelona, but the slightly more northern Girona is the opponent. Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of Real Madrid, looks ahead.
Embed from Getty Images
The seasoned Italian doesn't easily get flustered and knows that the standings after seven matches are not determinative, although the early whispers of a 'Spanish Leicester City' story are being heard. Ancelotti respects the opponent, however. 'We have to take the standings seriously. Girona has performed better in the first matches than the rest, and we must respect that. However, they have a significant advantage,' Ancelotti said in his press conference, speaking kindly of Daley Blind's team.
'They are not playing in Europe, so they can prepare for matches well. International competitions have a significant impact on a team,' said the coach, reinforcing his point with an example. 'After the international break, we play away at Sevilla on October 21st. There are players who return on the nineteenth in the afternoon. If their flight is delayed, I might have to tell the players that we'll see each other in Sevilla,' Ancelotti described his team's congested schedule.
Real has been warned. Girona is not only the league leader; last season, the club also took points from the powerhouse from the capital twice: it ended 1-1 in Madrid, and in Estadi Montilivi, Taty Castellanos had his finest hour by scoring all four Girona goals in a 4-2 victory. The good news: Castellanos is gone. Nonetheless, Ancelotti knows they need to do better.
Regarding the state of his squad, he had mostly good news. 'We have Antonio Rüdiger back; it wasn't anything serious. Vinícius Júnior can and will also start. How long? That depends on what I ask of him. If I don't need to sprint, I can last for ninety minutes; a hundred minutes would still work,' the coach laughed. However, he will be without David Alaba. 'That's not anything serious either, just a minor issue. We will try to get him ready for Tuesday.' That evening, Ancelotti's Real will visit his old friends from Napoli in the Champions League.
Updated: 03:28, 29 Sep 2023
