Everything Carlo Ancelotti had to say before the LaLiga Santander match against Osasuna

In a week in which the reactions of even the quickest bumblebee wouldn’t have been enough to dodge all the incoming bombshells, Carlo Ancelotti sat down in front of the press in Madrid to talk about what has been a historic week in Spanish football.

Carlo Ancelotti would make a fantastic gatekeeper in a fantasy board game. His answers are sometimes, on the surface, quite straight-forward to the point of even being mundane, but tinged with an underlying meaning that forces to you decipher every syllable. When asked about the upcoming tie, Carlo simply said that “it will be a complicated game and one in which we will have to have a good attitude. The team is in good shape and we will fight.”

He was then asked about Benzema, who is set to miss out: Karim won’t play tomorrow. He is a bit tired and we hope he’ll be back for Tuesday [against Liverpool]... after the World Cup, Karim has done very well and now we prefer him to rest, above all because of his age... we don’t want to take risks with Benzema because he’s tired and it could be dangerous. If we played Liverpool tomorrow he wouldn’t play and neither would Kroos. Kroos won’t play against Osasuna either due to illness but Courtois and Hazard are back.

‘It’s not good that people doubt the competition’

Then, after the niceties were over, the boss was asked about Barçagate, the scandal that broke during the week, revealing payments made by FC Barcelona to the then-vice president of the Technical Comittee of Referees. Carlo played a staight bat: “I’m worried about preparing well for the games, nothing else. Everyone has to do what they have to do. I’m focussed on the game.”

“It’s clear that it’s not good that people doubt the competition. Sport has to be clean and that’s what we work for.”

While on the subject of FC Barcelona, Carlo said “the objective is the continue to pressure Barcelona. You know the calendar is very demanding and we have to arrive at every moment with a good feeling and it looks like we’re doing well. But football is one of those things where you can have something good happen to you and then the bad thing comes straight after.”

Ancelotti hints he may play the same team tomorrow and Tuesday

“The time I’ve spent working on Tuesday’s game is zero”, Ancelotti said before playing one of those typically devious cards that keeps everyone on their toes, “I dedicate 24 hours to the game tomorrow. It’s a very important game to cut down the gap to Barcelona. I’m not thinking about the lineup for Tuesday, only the one for tomorrow and they might even be the same.

Sticking with the theme of starting lineups, Ancelotti laughed when asked about his favourite XI: I’m not telling you my favourite, but I have to evaluate every game. Vinicius will come back in [after suspension] and he can be very dangerous.”

Ancelotti also spoke about Álvaro Rodríguez, the striker who has been making headline due to his good performances, and who trained with the first team today: “Yes, he’s doing well. He was in the South American u-20 Cup and that’s why he wasn’t called up, but tomorrow he will be. He gives us a different profile of player, he’s tall and strong.”

What exactly is Madrid’s style of play under Ancelotti

The Real Madrid boss also spoke about Modric, who at 37, naturally comes to mind given Benzema is being rested due to age: I spoke [with Modric, about the game]. He wants to start tomorrow and he will start.” Ancelotti also confirmed that Rodrygo will start against Osasuna.

Systems were next on the agenda and how Madrid actually define their style under Ancelotti. As ever, he was cool and calm in talking tactics, giving away just enough information to satisfy the question: “we have to adapt to play either 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 but it depends on the game and how we can do it. In terms of the system it’s a 4-3-3 but it’s whether or not Vinicius or a midfielder steps up to press the first line.”