Ancelotti: “Vinícius won’t travel to face Sevilla, and the reason is injury and nothing else”

Carlo Ancelotti previewed Saturday’s Sevilla vs Real Madrid game in his Friday press conference and confirmed that several forwards will miss the match with injury, including Vinícius. The coach stated: “We want to finish the season well. We know this will be a difficult game against a team in good form. The win against Rayo Vallecano means we feel confident. We will be missing a few injured players, such as Benzema, Vinícius and Asensio. We’ll field a team to try to win. It’ll still be a competitive team because we have a good squad.”

Ancelotti on Vinícius’ absence

The coach was asked if part of the reason for Vinícius’ absence is to avoid putting him in the atmosphere of another away game. To that, the coach replied: “No, the reason he isn’t travelling is the injury. His knee is still bothering him. If he could have played then he’d have travelled with us. This isn’t about it being a home or away game. He can’t play and that’s final.”

Ancelotti on the 2022/23 season as a whole

Asked to evaluate this season, specifically the league campaign, and his time in charge in general, the coach stated: “Evaluating the season, it was a good season. Evaluating the two seasons, it was spectacular. If I evaluate my four years here in total, I’d sign up immediately to win another 10 titles. I think the club would sign up for that too. For this LaLiga season, I can give you a quick analysis, which is that we competed in every other competition until the end but we left LaLiga behind a little after the loss at Barcelona. At that point, it was clear that the league wasn’t the focus. Barcelona have had a very good season and were consistent, but we struggled in January after the World Cup. I don’t think it was a problem with the attack, as we’ve scored the most goals. It was more so solidity at the back. There’s a lot of talk about signing a striker, but if you look at the stats then maybe we should sign a defender. Not a goalkeeper, though, because we have the best one in the world. I’m bringing this up just to point out that sometimes stats lie a little. You can’t explain everything with numbers.”

Ancelotti on Real Madrid’s transfer plans

The coach was asked if he has any specific names in mind for the transfer market and he replied: “It’s not the right time to speak about specific players. We’ll do what we need to do to improve the squad for next season. Don’t worry about that.”

Pressed on the option of Joselu, he added: “I like Joselu a lot, just like I like many strikers. There’s Aspas, Morata, just to speak of the Spaniards.”

Ancelotti on Nacho’s future

On Nacho and his contract renewal situation, the Italian said: “His future is in his hands. He knows he can stay here and we know what he brings to the squad. The club have spoken to him and he is thinking about what the best option is for him. The season ends in one week and I think all these contract situations will become clear.”

Ancelotti on Hazard’s future

Eden Hazard was brought up and the coach was asked what the Belgian needs to do ahead of next season. He replied: “What Hazard needs to do I will discuss with Hazard and not here. He has a contract, so it’s assumed he’ll stay here. As is the case with any player under contract, if they’re not happy then they need to ask the club to leave. If they’re happy, then they’ll stay.”

Ancelotti on the left-back position and the arrival of Fran García

After he confirmed the arrival of Fran García in midweek, Ancelotti was asked what he thinks about the left-back position going forward. He said: “Our main problem at left-back was the lengthy injury to Mendy. We trust him as he is a very good full-back. He was great last season, even if he struggled more this season. Then, we’ll also have a young player coming in who can do well with us.”

Ancelotti on Tchouaméni’s season

On Aurélien Tchouaméni and his season as a whole, Ancelotti discussed the Frenchman and dismissed the suggestion that he has become the third-choice option for the pivot, behind Kroos and Camavinga. The coach said: “He surprised everyone in the first half of the season, arriving at Real Madrid at such a young age and replacing Casemiro. After the World Cup, it’s true that his level has dropped a little, which is quite normal for a youngster at Real Madrid. He’s not dropped all the way to being the third option. He has played eight of the last nine league games there I think. He is still a great option for the future.”

Ancelotti on goalline tech

With the goalline tech debate having come up again after an Atlético Madrid goal in midweek, the coach spoke about it and said: “Since VAR came in, things have improved. Adding more technology, like goalline technology, would be good. If it’s a money issue, I think they could fix that. Even still, we also need to improve the use of this technology.”