Ancelotti: “Benzema would have taken a third penalty and will take our next one”

Real Madrid are even closer to winning the LaLiga Santander title, although the focus for Carlo Ancelotti now switches to the Champions League. Following the 3-1 win at Osasuna, the coach outlined the mood in the squad by saying: “We still have a little bit to go in the title race. A little bit. We’ll now focus on the Champions League semi-final. We go into it in a good run of form, with the team motivated and committed. Everyone is doing well and I want to highlight Dani Ceballos for his performance. I was right when I said a few weeks ago that he deserved more minutes.”

Asked about Karim Benzema’s performance against Osasuna and the two penalties that were saved by Sergio Herrera, the Italian defended the striker and said: “If we’d had another penalty, he’d have taken it. When we have our next one, he’ll take it. Whoever takes penalties will miss some. Even if he didn’t score, he played well.”

Ancelotti on David Alaba’s injury

David Alaba had to be taken off at half time and the coach provided an injury update on the Austrian, saying: “It doesn’t seem like it’s anything serious. It was his adductor annoying him a little and we didn’t want to take any risks.”

He was also asked why he took a risk by playing so many usual starters and he defended his team selection, replying: “Playing Karim wasn’t a risk. And those who weren’t 100 percent didn’t play.”

Ancelotti on Camavinga’s early booking

The final question and answer were interesting, as Ancelotti explained why Eduardo Camavinga’s fourth-minute yellow card was actually good for his development. He stated: “I think this was a good test for him because he got a yellow card in the fifth minute and then had to deal with that. I think that changed his attitude and made him focus more. He did well.”