Ancelotti: "Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player I've ever coached"

Ancelotti started the press conference assessing Wednesday's game against Ludogorets.

There are no poor teams in this competitions. The first match played by Ludogorets against Liverpool was really good, and we all know how hard it is to play in Anfield. We want to win this match to establish ourselves in the Group.

I'm not thinking about rotations, but if I see that some of our players are tired today I will give them rest. These first matches in the Group Stage are always crucial and our primary goal is to lead the Group.

They play with a lot of intensity and they are solid. I believe these two things will be their main weapons for Wednesday's match. They also have quality, we are building a gameplan to contain a whole squad and not a single player. They are quick and dynamic and that's what surprised me the most after watching them playing in Anfield.

Ancelotti had some praise for Cristiano Ronaldo as well.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player I've ever coached, with no disrespect to the others.

Bale didn't play well against Villarreal, but Ancelotti is not worried about it.

Bale is not as involved in some games because there are some games in which players are not at 100%. But he's played well, he's scored and he knows the work he has to do because he's doing it very well. I'm satisfied.

and finally, some talk about the team's formations and tactics.

We always try to defend with a 4-4-2 formation and then attack through our wing players. I think 4-4-2 is the best system when you don't have the ball because it allows you to cover gaps really well.

Isco's role was also brought to Ancelotti's attention.

Isco doesn't need anything else. He knows he's very important for us, but I can't start more than 11 players.

Isco was the one player chosen to speak to the press, and he talked mainly about his role in this team.

The coach wants me to be involved in defense, if I want to have minutes I have to contribute defensively. I'll just try to go out and play well with the ball and off the ball as well. Players like Illarra and me don't need any special motivation, we're young and we know how hard it is to play for Real Madrid. We're always ready to give our best. I'm really happy here.

The Spanish player wanted to send a message about Wednesday's game as well.

This is not an easy game. We will play respectfully and we'll try our best to get the three points. It's a very important away game but we can't afford relaxation and we're hoping to keep this momentum going.