Ancelotti talks Valverde, Mbappe, Asencio, Griezmann, Vazquez ahead of Real Madrid vs Atletico | OneFootball

Real Madrid face one of their most important matches of the season on Tuesday night as they take on Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.

The Merengues had to make it through to the knockout phases after beating Manchester City in a two-legged playoff, having failed to secure direct qualification from the league stage.

On the derby

Facing their neighbours, whom they have failed to defeat twice this season, will be a big challenge, one Carlo Ancelotti believes his team is ready for.

“We have good memories of the game against City. It was a special night and we want to repeat this kind of game,” said the Italian at the start of his press conference today.

When asked if Real Madrid will want to take a huge advantage from tomorrow’s game apart from just winning the tie, he replied:

“It’s impossible. It’s going to be a close tie and it’s going to be decided in the second leg. The objective for tomorrow is to play well and take an advantage.

“The match is even and competitive, but we can’t think about taking a big advantage tomorrow. They are a strong opponent.”

Discussing the approach that his team will take against Atletico and how it will vary from the Manchester City clash, Ancelotti noted:

“We have to take into account the difference between the two rivals. Atletico are a more vertical team and can counter-attack more. But I don’t want to change our style, our mentality or our approach.”

On what makes a derby different and special, Ancelotti remarked: “The derby is always the same: a special match in terms of emotions and the pressure you feel before a match. They are evenly matched and competitive and tomorrow’s match will be like that.

“Atletico are having a very good season. In the last derby, we did very badly in the first half and very well in the second. We have to think about playing like we did in the second half and not playing like we did in the first half. It’s not very complicated.”

Reflecting on the weekend defeat against Real Betis, he said: “We’ll see what happens tomorrow. We’ve been doing well in terms of attitude, but it was lacking against Betis. Hopefully it was an isolated case.”

“We are a team that is capable of reading match situations well, something we didn’t do in the game against Betis,” he added later.

On the squad

Real Madrid sweating over Valverde’s fitness. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Ancelotti then provided an update on the condition of Federico Valverde, with Real Madrid sweating over his fitness ahead of the crucial match.

“He trained individually yesterday, he had a good feeling. Today he will train with the team and after the training session we will make the decision if he can play or not,” he said.

Touching on the absence of key midfielders Jude Bellingham and Dani Ceballos and whether it will lead to starts for Luka Modric and Brahim Diaz, Ancelotti said:

“I don’t think it’s going to change the idea we have of playing. I don’t think it will change much. We have to take into account that the players who have been rested can have a chance tomorrow: Asencio, Camavinga….

“We have to look at this kind of thing and nothing else. We are not going to reinforce the midfield or remove a forward. We have to keep the same idea.”

When asked who would start at right-back, he confirmed: “Lucas Vazquez.”

The Real Madrid boss then had some words of praise for superstar Kylian Mbappe and his compatriot and Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann, saying:

“They are among the two best players in the world, yes. Griezmann likes to come and play, he has very good control of the game, he rarely misses passes. And Kylian has the quality of a real striker, more forceful in his finishing and in his passing.”

On whether Real Madrid have enough depth in their squad to compete for three titles in the rest of the season, Ancelotti explained:

“We have had some very serious injuries. This affects a season, obviously, but in this sense we have had a very good player who is helping us a lot like Raul Asencio.

“Sometimes injuries are an opportunity to see the character of the team and the squad and new players. The truth is that it’s a very physically demanding schedule for the players.”

Source: AS