Carlo Ancelotti faced the most anomalous press conference of his career at Real Madrid this morning in Valdebebas, in which he began by speaking to say that he did not want to talk about football and did want to show his sadness for what happened in Valencia. His message was very clear: football should not have been played this past weekend. There was not a single question about Madrid-AC Milan tomorrow at the Bernabéu on the fourth day of the Champions League, the two teams that have won the most European Cups and the two that the Italian coach has in his heart.
Ancelotti wanted to speak before being asked: “It’s been a week since this tragedy and we are sad. We are very close to all the towns that have been affected. Hopefully this can be resolved soon. I hope you can understand, but talking about football now is very complicated. We are part of this country and all this affects a lot. Out of respect for you and also not to disrespect people, I will try to make it simple because I don’t feel like talking about football. For me tomorrow is a very special game, but I will try to talk as little as possible.”
The match
“We have prepared them because we are professionals”
For the Real Madrid coach, “what happened was something terrible. We have prepared for the match against Milan because we are professionals and we will obviously try to win it. This is what we have to do.”
Ancelotti insisted that the last day of the League should not have been played: “Everyone has been clear. Nobody wanted to play. It seemed like the right decision to me. But we are not the ones in charge. “Those at the top make that decision,” he said.
Tragedy management
No political evaluations
Several of the questions were for Ancelotti to take a position regarding how aid to the victims had been managed, but the Madrid coach refused to make political assessments: “I cannot give an opinion on how this tragedy has been managed. “I must do my best to try to help and that’s it.” Later, he commented: “The frustration of those affected is normal. I am not here to evaluate what politics has done this week. I don’t have the resources to do this. It is difficult to think of something like this in 2024, with all the information we have. You can catch the exact time when it starts to rain… And you can’t fix this kind of tragedy. Politics is very complicated in all countries. What is the fault of politics? Don’t know. “I do see the frustration of people who have lost everything.”
Near the end of the press conference, Ancelotti was asked about Vinícius’ emotional state for not having won the Ballon d’Or: “This has been a difficult week because it is not the normal atmosphere. But not because of what happened with the Ballon d’Or. It happened and that’s it. The winners must be congratulated. The sadness is not there, but because of what is happening here in Spain. Vinícius is normal. He realizes what is happening. Fortunately we did not play on Saturday and Vinícius has trained well, like everyone,” he insisted again. The slogan now at the club is to stop talking about the Ballon d’Or and turn the page.
The Ballon d’Or
Congratulate the winners
To finish, Ancelotti once again reminded that the game should not have been played on the weekend: “The power we have is equal to 0. We cannot make any type of decisions. All the coaches wanted to stop the game. Some have played, others have not. The coach’s decision-making power, in these cases, is equal to 0. There is a phrase, ‘the show must go on’, but it should not be like that.”
Lucas Vázquez, the third captain and undisputed starter after Dani Carvajal’s injury, spoke after the team coach. The message from the Galician player was very similar to that of his coach: “We feel very sad. They have been difficult, turbulent days, where our people have suffered. It is time for all of us to reflect and think about what has happened. And try to help everyone get out of this.”
Vázquez sees the locker room affected: ”Seeing many people suffering affects us all. The coach is absolutely right. Our opinion is 0, our strength is 0. We have to be professionals and do what we are told. It’s what it takes. It shouldn’t have been played. It was time to be with those affected and think only about that. Political issues, this is not the time to talk about them here,” he said.
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