Ancelotti: “Vinícius is keeping cool when through on goal”

Carlo Ancelotti was pleased with Real Madrid’s strength in attack during their 5-2 victory over Celta Vigo on Sunday night, but he was once again left frustrated by the defensive fragility shown by the team.

Speaking after the victory, he told the press: “I think we showed a lot quality in attack with Karim [Benzema], Luka [Modrić], [Eden] Hazard and Vinícius. With Miguel Gutierrez too, who put a cross in for one of Karim’s goals. But, the defensive organisation wasn’t so clear. We made it difficult for ourselves with what happened at the start. We had a great second half, but we gifted too much at the start of the match. It’s true that we were missing some important players like David Alaba or Ferland Mendy, but we definitely need to improve at the back. We have to do better when we don’t have the ball.”

Asked specifically about Vinícius, Ancelotti said of the Brazilian: “Right now, he’s playing at a very high level and is doing things very well at the start to the season, helping the team a lot. He needs to keep it up. He has confidence right now, but he is remaining calm. When he’s through on goal, he is keeping cool.”

Finally, the coach was asked about the return to the Bernabéu and his thoughts on what was a special night for Real Madrid fans. He said: “It’s going to be the best stadium in the world. We were here two weeks ago and it seemed impossible that you could play here, but we’ve done that. The fans helped us a lot at the difficult parts of the match. The atmosphere in the Bernabéu was very good tonight.”