Ancelotti: “I’m not a mathematician, so we just try to take the next three points”

Carlo Ancelotti addressed the media on Tuesday lunchtime, ahead of Real Madrid’s trip to take on Osasuna and with Los Blancos even closer to clinching the 2021/22 LaLiga Santander title following Barça’s Monday night defeat. Asked about how close Real Madrid are to sealing the championship, the Italian replied: “It’s true that we’re close to winning LaLiga, but we still have important matches to play and we go to a difficult stadium tomorrow. We’ll try to win it and move even closer to the title. I have too much experience to feel [like Real Madrid have already won]. But, it’s true that we’re very close. We have a great opportunity tomorrow to move even closer. That’s what everyone is thinking about right now. I’m not a mathematician, so we just try to win the next match and take the next three points.”

He was then asked if he would prefer to win the LaLiga Santander title or the Champions League and had a one-word answer. “Both,” he said.

Ancelotti on rotations

The coach provided an update on the state of the squad and said he has no need to rest Karim Benzema right now, explaining: “When a player is in a good rhythm and doing well, and isn’t tired or overworked, they don’t need to rest. So, he can still play.”

On the other hand, both Luka Modrić and Casemiro will miss the Osasuna game. Ancelotti said: “Modrić is one of the players who is a little fatigued, so I’m going to rest him tomorrow. He won’t play tomorrow. Casemiro has a small injury, as do Luka Jović and Mariano, so they can’t play tomorrow but should be available against Manchester City.”

Ancelotti on black magic

Asked if he feels he has inherited Zinedine Zidane’s black magic, Ancelotti replied: “As I’ve said many times, this club has something special and some magic. If you say I’m lucky then I think that’s another quality. Napoleon said he preferred lucky generals to skilful ones.”

Ancelotti on Vinícius helping without scoring

Vinícius hasn’t scored as many goals in the second half of the season, but he is still making an impact and Ancelotti is happy with his performances. Hs said of Vinícius: “I don’t think he’s obsessed with scoring goals himself. He’s motivated to help the team. For me, it’s not important for him to score… well, it’s important, but it’s not the most important.”

Ancelotti on Rodrygo or Asensio

Discussing who is having a better season out of Rodrygo or Marco Asensio, Ancelotti praised both and said: “Rodrygo has made more of a difference when coming on as a substitute. He always brings his quality, energy and pace, which helps us. Asensio has also had a very good season and has scored a lot of goals. I’m just happy we’ve been able to enjoy the quality of both.”

Ancelotti on the Piqué and Rubiales and audios

Finally, he was asked for a comment about the Gerard Piqué and Luis Rubiales audios being released by El Confidencial. But, he didn’t want to get involved and replied: “I have an ear to listen and an eye to see, but I don’t want to talk about this subject.”