Ancelotti: “Any player scared of injury should stay on the sofa and watch a good movie”

Ahead of Real Madrid’s penultimate Champions League group stage match, away at RB Leipzig, Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media and insisted that this is still an important game even if Los Blancos are already through. He said: “At this club, every match is important. We want to put in a good performance so that we can forget about the group stage already. This is a very busy stage of the season with a lot of games, too many in my opinion. We’re managing quite well, but have a few injuries, like all teams that are playing every three days. With the injuries, it’s obvious that some of those who aren’t playing as much will play tomorrow. Vinícius is going to play. He’s not tired.”

Ancelotti on the fear of missing the World Cup

There were multiple questions asking Ancelotti if he thinks his players might want to take it easy these next few weeks to ensure they don’t miss the World Cup. But, the coach spoke about how there isn’t much you can do to avoid picking up an injury. He explained: “Injuries exist in football. If you don’t want to get injured, stay on the sofa and you can watch one of the many good movies or series that are out right now. You can suffer injuries in a match, but also in training. I don’t think players are too worried about this. Obviously players want to reach the World Cup in good conditions and we don’t want to risk them either. It’s better to lose a player like Benzema or Modrić for one game than for one month.”

Ancelotti on Rodrygo’s movement

Rodrygo has been playing the No.9 role when Benzema has been absent and he is playing it in a similar way to the Frenchman, moving around a lot. On this, Ancelotti said: “For us, it’s important for our centre-forward to move around. Rodrygo has that ability. Benzema is the professor of this skill and can show others how to play in this way.”

Ancelotti on Asensio’s future

Marco Asensio’s contract expires next summer and there have been reports that an offer has been made to him. Asked about the Spaniard, Ancelotti said: “The club knows what I think and Asensio knows what I think. There are many other players too who have expiring contracts. There is still a lot of time to talk about new contracts. Maybe the long break at the World Cup will be a good time to talk about this kind of thing.”