Ancelotti confirms that Luka Modric will be ready for El Clásico against FC Barcelona

Ancelotti previewed Sunday's game against Elche.

I have not made my decision about whether to make rotations or start the same team that played against Schalke. There's a lot of pressure in this match and we need to keep winning if we want to stay atop in La Liga. It will be a game with a lot of intensity, it's true that Elche have improved over the last 15 days, that's why it will be a difficult game. We did well this last week and we would like to end it with a good win tomorrow.

Marcelo and the players gave Ancelotti a hug after Real Madrid's second goal at the Veltins Arena. The Italian coach shared his thoughts on that.

There's a lot of respect between the players and the coaching staff, there's a very good relationship between both parts. I decided to give Marcelo a hug because he scored with his right foot and this surprised me a lot, I don't think this was something the players did to support me. But yes, I'm happy because we all have a very good relationship.

Jesé is not featuring much lately, but he could be a starter in this team, according to Real's coach.

Jesé is improving, he's in good condition and the injury he had is well in the past. It's not easy to recover from that knee injury and we need to be cautious, but he's a player who could start for us.

The talks about Ancelotti's contract extension have stopped for a while.

Everyone is supporting me, I feel trusted here. We're not in a hurry about the contract extension, there's still more than one year left in my contract, we should not be in a hurry! My goal is to win a big title, I believe we have a good chance of accomplishing this, and this is not a new experience for me as it was the same goal I had in every other club. I don't believe that my extension depends on the titles we win.

Luka Modric rejoined the squad during Thursday's training session and he seems to be ready to start against FC Barcelona.

Modric feels well, he worked with us last Thursday. He hasn't completed a whole training session with us, but I believe that he will be ready to go against Barcelona, we would like to give him minutes even sooner.

Pepe also came back from injury against Schalke with a dominant performance. Ancelotti explained how important his presence is.

Pepe provided a good defensive effort, personality and confidence. It's very important to have him back there considering how young our defensive line is.

And finally, the Italian assessed how the injured players are feeling.

Sergio Ramos' condition is improving, but he will not be available. I think he will recover soon, and Coentrao will train with the squad tomorrow. Varane and Carvajal are ready to play tomorrow.