Pepe: "Ancelotti must stay in Madrid, no doubt"

Just a day after Real Madrid's disappointing game against Schalke 04, Pepe gave an interview to Cadena Cope's show El Partido de las Doce, where he explicitly backed Carlo Ancelotti and discussed some of the reasons that might explain Real Madrid's recent dip. Here are some of the most interesting quotes from that interview:

I think there is very little doubt that Ancelotti should stay in Real Madrid. He has brought a lot of joy to Real Madrid in a very short period of time, and we must believe he will continue to do so.

I believe Barcelona are, right now, ahead of us to win the next Clásico because they play at home, but anything can happen. We are not in our best condition right now, but we have a lot of quality and have not forgotten how to play good football. We are not scared by the Camp Nou, we just need to face the game as if it were the last in our lives.

Of course I would like to get a contract extension, I am happy here and so is my family, but this is not the right time to talk about this. My contract expires in a year and a half and, right now, we must be focused in solving the problems we have.

We don't have any physical problem right now, and I don't think there's a problem with our attitude, because it is a fact that we are running more than we did before. I think it may be a problem of mentality. Perhaps we are not facing the games the way we should, with the intensity that made us win twenty-two games in a row and become world champions. We should work to get that back.

The fans obviously have the right to whistle. They know when we are doing well and when we are not, and we must face that. We will revert this situation together, with their support.