Everything Carlo Ancelotti had to say in his Super Cup pre-match press conference

“I don’t feel as though there has been too much of a mental toll on the players,” the Madrid boss said when asked about the impact of so many of his squad having travelled to the World Cup in Qatar, “it could be that some of them are emotionally affected, but we have to wait and see to draw any conclusions.”

Carlo Ancelotti’s press conference in the wake of the Villarreal defeat at the weekend highlighted the two sides to the personality of the Italian, as his usual calmness was juxtaposed by a seriousness that he demands from his players. The loss at the Estadio de la Cerámica left Barcelona with the opportunity to pull away from Madrid if they won against Atlético, which they did, 0-1.

Against the Yellow Submarine, Madrid looked shaky in defence under the strong press that manager Quique Setién applauded his team for after the game, causing the news to fly around the morning after that Madrid were in fact looking at replacing certain members of the back line. But, as always, Carlo kept his cool, saying that the problems in defence can and will be sorted. “It’s not anything new, I’ve already seen this defensive block, it’s solid, it’s what has given us such success. I know we are going to get back to our normal level.”

No time for excuses... or analysis

But the Italian wasn’t keen to use this time to look for excuses, instead deciding to switch focus onto what went wrong against Villarreal and how they can turn it around. “We are hurt after what happened at Villarreal and I hope that the team reacts tomorrow. It’s a very important test. Before an exam when I was young my grandmother said to me to put the book under my pillow.”

“I think talking about the physical aspect of the game”, Ancelotti said when asked about the jam-packed calendar Madrid have got this month, “long programmes stopped being done a few years ago. Now they’re more short terms as there are a lot of games and little time to rest. You have to focus on it in a different way. This drop off is not because we’ve gone too hard during the break, it’s because we didn’t play well.”

Gattuso vs Ancelotti is more that just two managers

When asked about his opposite number, Ancelotti spoke of the personal side of things, letting it be known that despite the good times, there will be no niceties on the sideline on Wednesday: “[Me and Gattuso have] had very nice moments together, we won two Champions Leagues, they are memories for life. After that, the relationship hasn’t always been the best, we had some personal problems but I don’t want to talk about that. A lot of good coaches have come from that team; I can’t remember now but Seedorf, PIrlo, Gattuso, Nesta... maybe they got some experience from that side. But then everyone puts their own spin on each team. All of Gattuso’s teams have a very clear and intense identity.

Madrid’s desire for success this season

Talk has been going round about Real Madrid and the possibility that they could be the first team to win the Sextuple in one season: that is, the six trophies on offer to them. Ancelotti said the team “want to fight for every trophy, we are thinking about winning everything. Now we’re going to do everything we can to win the Super Cup, we’re not thinking whether or not it’s an objective.”

The boss wishes Ronaldo and Bale ‘all the best’

And finally, the boss was asked about the fact that the Spanish Super Cup is not being played in Spain, but Saudi Arabia. Ancelotti did not enter into the politics of the decision, preffering to keep his answer fan-oriented and positive, before making a nod to some familiar faces: “playing the Super Cup here generates a good atmosphere. The fans are with us, and we love it. Cristiano is a great signing for Al-Nassr, we wish him all the best. The same goes for Bale, who retired yesterday. They will always be in the hearts of the Madrid fans.”