Ancelotti: “Bellingham’s issue is nothing major”

Following Real Madrid’s 2-1 win at Braga in the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media in the press room and he admitted that it became a little nervy towards the end, after the Portuguese side pulled a goal back. Analysing the win, he said: “We had to suffer a bit more in the second half, after it seemed the game was won. We lost some confidence after conceding the goal and we suffered quite a lot, but I think we did well defensively. Braga put a lot of players forward and it’s hard to defend, but we did well.”

Ancelotti on Bellingham’s issue

There were alarm bells after Jude Bellingham had to be substituted off late on with what looked like an injury, but the coach reassured Madridistas in the press conference. He stated: “He’s fine. His adductor was a bit overloaded because the pitch was quite soft, but it’s nothing major. He’ll recover in time. He’s fatigued like everyone, but that’s normal.”

Ancelotti on Rüdiger’s and the incident at full-time

After the full-time whistle, there was an argument involving Rüdiger and one of the Braga coaching assistants. Asked about this, the coach simply responded: “Honestly, I don’t know what happened. I think there was something with one of the Braga assistants. I don’t know what happened, if it was him or with Modrić. But, he was calm once he was in the dressing room later.”

Ancelotti on Rodrygo’s goal

The coach also discussed the fact that Rodrygo ended his scoring drought, stating: “The goal is obviously important, for us because it opened the scoring and for him it was obviously important too. But, even when he hasn’t scored in other games he has still had good performance. We know, though, that goals are important for forwards, so hopefully this can help him going forward.”

Ancelotti on Bellingham’s position

Another question about Jude Bellingham was about his positioning. On that, the coach said: “Bellingham sacrifices a lot down the let and helps the team a lot. That allows Vinícius to be fresher. I don’t know how many kilometres Vinícius covered today, but he did a lot. The opposition line was very high, so we looked to exploit that and that led to the opening goal. Both did well. I think we can say that Vinícius has returned well from his injury.”

Ancelotti on El Clásico

Real Madrid can now look ahead to El Clásico and Ancelotti was asked if he knows his starting XI for the clash with Barcelona. He said: “Yes, I have the starting line-up quite clear in my mind. I changed the line-up a little today because some players were carrying a little something. Those who came in did well, like Camavinga at the pivot. We now have plenty of time to prepare and we’re looking forward to it.”