Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media on Monday afternoon ahead of Tuesday night’s clash with Borussia Dortmund, explaining what he demands from Kylian Mbappé in terms of pressing by saying, “to score goals. I prefer him to score goals more than defend. The number nine at Real Madrid has been like this for many years, like with Karim, to be ready for a quick transition.”
He also responded to a question from Kiyan Sobhani of Managing Madrid on his thoughts on the team this season, saying, “as I said, we’re working on the defensive aspect, on the attacking side we have more options and possibilities. We aren’t conceding many goals but our rivals are having chances to score. Now we are working on this to try to be more solid defensively. When we are solid, we have a better chance of winning because sooner or later we will score.”
Ancelotti on spying accusations
“We know it all about the rival team. We watch all their games. There’s no secrets, I have enough information about the team and how they’ve played recently.”
Ancelotti on what score he would give his team
“We’re not at 100%, obviously. We’re getting good results but we have to improve our defensive and offensive play, and step by step we will do that.”
Ancelotti on rock and roll football
“I want this, we have players with those characteristics. An end-to-end game suits us. A game all about possession and control against a low block doesn’t suit us, we don’t have players used to playing in reduced spaces, we have players who can make the most of their characteristics in an open field. We are focused on defending better, just as we did well last year. This year the team is less solid in that sense and we’re working to add solidity to the team.”
Ancelotti on Bellingham’s lack of goals
“We’re satisfied with his work, I’m very satisfied, because he works a lot, he presses, competes, fights and makes sacrifices. The surprise isn’t this year, it was last year when he scored a lot of goals when no-one expected it. We will always score goals, we have very talented players in attack, and the work his team is doing is much more important than his goals last season.”
Ancelotti on the back three against Vigo
“The three central defenders was on the ball, without the ball it had to be a line of four defenders, as we have always done and always will do. This team won’t defend with five. When you are winning, you can put five, six or seven defenders, but our idea will always be four.”
Ancelotti on what’s missing from last season
“It’s a problem to do with physical condition. Not everyone is at 100%. There’s little more to it. We have to work more compactly as a team. Sometimes you want to press high but the habit playing out from the back means we need to be more solid with a middle block.”
Ancelotti on Bellingham’s role in the team
“His position hasn’t changed many times. It changed the other day, I put him on the right because I thought he could get more space there in the second line. I think he’ll continue there because the left side is more busy, with Mbappé who likes to play there and Vinícius, and the right flank with Bellingham and Rodrygo can be more effective, just like we are on the left.”
Ancelotti on how the team is improving defensively
“We’re working on every aspect. On being more compact, stepping up with the attackers, working as a unit, everything is to be more compact. Tchouameni in that sense is a very important player who adapts to many positions and recovers the ball frequently. We have to read games better to know when to press and when not to press. We have to work on this because otherwise you can forget sometimes. There isn’t much time between games, but it is what it is.”
Ancelotti on what he demands from Mbappé with the press
“To score goals. I prefer him to score goals more than defend. The number nine at Real Madrid has been like this for many years, like with Karim, to be ready for a quick transition.”
Ancelotti on Luka Modrić
“Modrić is a unique player with a spectacular talent and way of managing the position and that helps us a lot in that sense, I hope he can help us tomorrow too, whether he starts or not.”