Matchday 18
The Italian anticipates the presence of the Belgian in his eleven against Cádiz, conditioned by up to nine casualties but will also have Benzema once recovered from his discomfort
Rarely does a pre-game press conference offer so many clues about a coach’s plans. Carlo Ancelotti appeared this Saturday before the duel between his Real Madrid and Cádiz and made it clear that given the nine casualties he has for the appointment, Eden Hazard will finally start. «Hazard will start tomorrow. He has trained well, he has the will, motivation and he is going to play because he deserves it, not because there are casualties “, revealed the white coach.
The Italian also confirmed the presence of Benzema at the tip of his attack once the Frenchman recovered from the discomfort that prevented him from training with the group for much of this week: «Benzema has trained individually this week but today he has already done very well. Well, he scored goals in the game, he’s doing very well and he’s going to play ».
Thus, Ancelotti seems confident in the good work of his team in the penultimate engagement of the year despite the setback of the covid outbreak in his squad, which left up to six infected players: Asensio, Bale, Marcelo, Rodrygo, Lunin and Modric , although the Croatian already has a negative result. “It is true that we have had setbacks this week but first those who have tested positive are fine and second the team has trained well and is ready to play tomorrow’s game,” said the Reggiolo coach after a few days of some tension in the within the Chamartín club due to the scope of an outbreak that began with two positives in the club’s basketball section.
«We have had several positives but afterwards all the tests have come back negative and we have been able to prepare well for our game. I think that society has to live with this virus, which is less strong than before. We have never thought about postponing the game because we have a squad to replace these casualties. We have to be careful and the club is very demanding with all the control and tests, “he continued in relation to the influence of the coronavirus on his team, transmitting tranquility in this regard.
Davide, his son and second coach, was also one of the positives due to covid, although the technician is also calm on a personal level because his assistant is going through the disease without symptoms: «He is well at home, the whole family is negative, we also. He already had it and now with two vaccines … ».
«The Champions League draw was unfortunate but we will think later, in this tie that will be very difficult but also very exciting to play against one of the best teams in Europe. For us it will be a demanding but also interesting match, “he finally assessed about the draw for the eighth crosses of the highest continental competition, repeated by a technical error and that finally paired Madrid with Paris Saint-Germain, in a tie loaded with morbid.
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