Ancelotti to Benzema pre-match: “You’re not going to play”

Carlo Ancelotti guided Real Madrid to an impressive 3-1 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Yet another important European victory in his managerial career. The Italian almost missed the clash in London due to covid-19, but he finally tested negative before the game and was allowed to travel to Stamford Bridge to inspire his team to another win.

Ronaldo: Ancelotti jokes with players

In his book ‘Quiet Leadership’, Cristiano Ronaldo described the experienced coach. The Portuguese forward revealed that, on the eve of the biggest matches, the Italian would joke with his players. “He would arrive and say ‘Cristiano, tomorrow is a rest day for you’. I always want to play, everyone knows that, so I would get angry and ask him why. He kept saying the same thing, and in the end, he’d say: ‘Tomorrow I’ll have a rest until three o’clock. The match is at four o’clock, isn’t it? And he would laugh...”.

Carletto scares Benzema

Before the Chelsea match on Wednesday, Ancelotti had a similar moment with Karim Benzema, the hat-trick hero on the night. Before entering Stamford Bridge, Ancelotti and Benzema had a chat. Ancelotti told Amazon Prime: “When we got off the bus I told him he wasn’t going to play because he couldn’t find his match pass”. Carletto’s joke didn’t last long and ended in laughs between the pair: “Luckily, he found it later,” Ancelotti laughed.