Ancelotti: “We’re going to field a very very competitive line-up vs Getafe”

Ahead of Real Madrid’s Saturday LaLiga match against Getafe, Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media and was asked many more questions about Manchester City than about the Spanish side. The Italian made clear from the start that he wanted to discuss this weekend’s game, stating: “We’re not thinking about the other game today. The first leg was an interesting game. I think we played well, especially in the second half. But, we shouldn’t talk and look back at Tuesday’s game because we should talk about tomorrow’s game against Getafe.”

Ancelotti on his line-up vs Getafe

Discussing the Getafe match, Ancelotti was asked about rotations and he made clear that he is going to field a competitive starting XI. He said: “For us, we want to play well and win every game. A good performance keeps up your good form, whereas a bad performance could create concerns that we don’t need. We’ll have time after this game to recover well because the Manchester City game isn’t until Wednesday. There are a few players with slight knocks from Tuesday’s game, such as Benzema, Alaba and Rodrygo. We’ll evaluate those three tomorrow. But, Mendy and Ceballos are back and could play tomorrow. Courtois and Vinícius are going to play tomorrow. Maybe not from the start, but we’re going to field a very very competitive line-up because we have a deep squad. I won’t say who’s going to play, because I don’t want to give my dear friend José Bordalás an advantage.”

Ancelotti on having a responsibility to Getafe’s rivals

The coach was asked if he feels the teams battling Getafe to avoid relegation might become angry with him if he fields a weakened team, to which he said: “No, I don’t think they should be angry with our line-up. We’re going to field a competitive line-up. We’ll put a fresh team with energy. We’ll try to win tomorrow with the best line-up possible.”

Ancelotti on his relationship with José Bordalás

Asked about his relationship with José Bordalás, who came to visit Ancelotti and Real Madrid at Valdebebas in the summer, the Italian said: “I like his way of understanding football and life. He came to visit us here and we spent a good time together. We’re friends and I wish him the best.”

Ancelotti on Vinícius’ lack of rotation

On Vinícius and the fact that the Brazilian is rarely rotated, the coach explained why that is. He said: “Vinícius has no physical issues, he’s fine. Each player has their own demands, but he is happy and content and in great form right now. If he’s not the very best in the world right now, he’s close.”

Ancelotti on Courtois’ performances

One question asked the coach about Thibaut Courtois and how good the Belgian is both with his feet and with his hands. The coach replied: “We’re lucky because Courtois has amazing quality and we have a great goalkeeper coach too in Luis Llopis. We work on many specific things, from playing out from the back to many other things. A goalkeeper always needs to best with his hands than with his feet, but he can do both.”

Ancelotti on whether he and Guardiola are the best in the world

To one question, which asked if the best two coaches in the world right now are Pep Guardiola and himself, Ancelotti simply responded: “No, there’s many others.”