Carlo Ancelotti: "We lost important players, but I trust Varane and Nacho"

It was a good win against a tough team, but it came at a high price. James Rodríguez and Sergio Ramos left the match early with serious injuries and Marcelo saw a very unfair yellow card, which will make him miss the game against Atlético de Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti was asked about these losses and if this win has secured La Liga for Real Madrid:

I don't think it does, but we got what we wanted. It was a tough game, but we played well. We fought hard and won. Of course we lost very important players, but I trust the rest of the squad. Varane and Nacho played well together. We will protest Marcelo's yellow card because it wasn't even a foul.

On Ramos and James' injuries:

They won't play against Atlético de Madrid. Sergio had a problem in his hamstring and James had a right foot injury. Both are certain to miss the derby.

(Here's the update on James and on Ramos)

So, what did Carlo like about this game:

I liked the team the whole match. We had lots of chances to end the game in the second half. We suffered in the end, but that's normal. Sevilla had taller players than us so it was normal to struggle in set pieces, but we fought hard until the end and deserved the win.

On who will replace Ramos and Pepe for the tough match against Atlético:

I think we lose experience without them, but sometimes enthusiasm can help. I trust both Varane and Nacho. Ramos and Pepe are two of the best defenders in the world but like I said, I'm not worried.

On Jesé and how he's regaining his usual form:

We're looking at the Jesé from last year. We can finally say Jesé is back. He's worked hard, he's very excited and played a great game against Sevilla. He even helped the team defend and played a very complete game.

One guy tried to bring the whole "Bale is selfish" story again on a play where he decided to shoot instead of passing the ball to Benzema:

Again with that? (laughs) I think the play was fantastic. He accelerated very well and made the right choice by shooting. Like the others, he played very well, trying lots of one-on-one match ups. Every time he had the ball, he was dangerous with it.

On which will have the biggest impact on Real Madrid's balance: Ramos and James' loss or Cristiano Ronaldo's return:

Balance doesn't rely on a couple of players. It needs work from the whole team. It's not that one player gives us more balance than the other. Cristiano's return is great news. We won two matches without him, but he'll definitely help us a lot in the derby.

With Marcelo's suspension, Ancelotti needs Coentrao to be available?:

He will be available. He was training with Cristiano this morning. I think he will play.

Lucas Navarrete asked Carlo who will start at the Calderón this weekend: Asier Illarramendi or Sami Khedira:

We'll see. Illarra didn't play today and is very fresh, which needs to be considered. Khedira played a very good game and looked very fresh.

Finally, Ancelotti shared some thoughts on the derby and how important a win would be for Real Madrid:

It's important because we haven't played well in our last few games against Atlético. We need to put an end to the bad streak we have against them. It will be a very tough game, but we're confident we can do something different this time. We are not thinking about how much we would extend our lead over them. Playing the city derby is motivation enough for us.