Ancelotti, angry: “Modric should have taken the penalty”
The Real Madrid coach has analyzed Friday’s 0-1 victory against Celta and has spoken about Rodrygo’s missed penalty: “I’m a bit angry about that”.
Carlo Ancelotti reflected on Friday’s win in Balaídos - resolved late on by Jude Bellingham to make it three wins from three for Real Madrid.
Injuries: “Bellingham is fine. He keeps scoring and contributing. Vinicius has had a problem, we will see what he has in the next few hours. He had some muscular discomfort in his leg”.
Vini’s first injury - the cause? Any reason to be worried? “He wanted to continue, so I don’t think it was a very serious thing. I think he will probably miss the game against Getafe and that, with the international break, will give him a chance to rest”.
Celta: “Celta played very well defensively. We couldn’t find space behind them. In attack we had more difficulty - largely because they played so well at the back”.
Penalties: “They don’t have the freedom to decide who takes them. I have told Valverde that Luka has to take them. I don’t know what has happened. They elected Rodrygo and I didn’t have time to tell them that Modric is the penalty taker”.
Are you upset about that? “I’m a little upset. It may be a misunderstanding. At the time it was difficult to communicate it to the player”.
What did you think of Kepa? “Kepa played well. The team has played well. Another clean sheet. We won the match though commitment more than quality, but that was because we had so many things to deal with but we tried right up until the end”.
Is the attack well covered? “The attack is fine. You can see it in the data. We have scored six goals without Karim, without Vinicius. We have resources. I thought about putting Brahim in but I preferred to keep a balance to avoid any surprises”.
Kepa: “Kepa deserved to play. In these three games the goal has been well covered with Lunin and with Kepa, well see how it works out”.
What did you think of Celta’s disallowed goal? “I saw a player tug Kepa’s shirt and I think it was a justly disallowed”.
Bellingham: “Goals are not his main virtue, but he is doing well because without the ball he moves well and is intelligent. For the quality he has and for his ease of getting past opponents”.
Reflection after Vini’s injury: “We’ve shown that we have a complete squad. If we are able to win without Courtois, Militão and Vinicius it means that the squad is well built. They have done well.”