Ancelotti talks Huijsen, Mbappe, Davide, Barcelona, injuries ahead of Sevilla vs Real Madrid | OneFootball

Carlo Ancelotti will manage his penultimate game in charge of Real Madrid this Sunday when Real Madrid take on Sevilla away at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

The Italian tactician will bid goodbye to the Merengues after a four-year spell once the La Liga season is over and will be hoping to end things on a high by leading the team to victories in their last two matches.

Ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Sevilla, the manager addressed the media in the pre-match press conference, discussing the new signing of Dean Huijsen among other topics.

Previewing the game against Los Nervionenses, Ancelotti said: “It has always been difficult for us at the Pizjuan. The objective is to try to finish the season well. We did well against Mallorca and we have to do well tomorrow as well.”

Talking about his impending exit and whether the whole experience is feeling strange to him, the Real Madrid boss remarked:

“I’m enjoying it. I wanted to enjoy it in a different way, fighting until the last day for the league. It hasn’t been, but I’m enjoying it and I’m going to enjoy it until the last day. And then, to prepare for another challenge.”

On the signing of Dean Huijsen, which was confirmed just a while ago, Ancelotti said: “He is a great player, young, who has a lot of projection and a lot of potential. The signing is very good.

“All the players that Madrid sign make me very excited, because Madrid always wants to be at the top. Last year it was unthinkable because we had the return of Alaba, Militao, good, Carvajal, good. But injuries have hurt us.”

Commenting on whether Barcelona are deserved champions of La Liga this season, the Italian manager said:

“That’s part of football, sometimes you’re not able to get the best out of everyone. Barça have done very well, we have to congratulate them, because they have been more consistent in La Liga and they have played very nice football.

“They deserved to win this league. Next year will be a different story.”

On being asked about whether he had given a thought to what went wrong for Real Madrid this season, apart from the injuries, he said:

“To make an assessment of this now… We could get more from ourselves, but to make an evaluation today of players like Valverde, Vinicius, Rodrygo and Courtois, it’s impossible.

“I will never criticise these players who have been able to give me so much joy over the years.”

Ancelotti’s penultimate game as Real Madrid manager. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Commenting on the praise he has been receiving from other coaches ahead of his departure, Ancelotti stated:

“Good, good. Obviously I’ve received a lot of love from all my colleagues over the years. It’s a nice thing to be appreciated for your work and the way you are. I’m going to enjoy these days.”

On whether he believes he should have had a bigger say at Real Madrid when it comes to transfers, he replied:

“They have listened to me. Since I’ve been here, they’ve signed Camavinga, Rudiger, Tchouameni, Bellingham, Mbappe….”

Ancelotti was then asked if signing some players in the January window could have helped Madrid win titles, to which he responded:

“We have spoken and all the decisions the club has taken have been spoken. There is nothing more to add. Last year we had the same problems and we were able to fix it and this year it has been a bit more complicated.”

Talking about whether Mbappe can win the European Golden Boot, Ancelotti commented: “He’s going to score more than 40 goals. I think he can get more out of his performance, but his first season at Real Madrid has been a very good one.”

Ancelotti also opened up on his relationship with his son Davide and what it has been like working with him as his assistant, saying:

“Davide is an important part of my coaching staff, also because of the fact that we have a special father-son relationship, obviously I have a lot of confidence in him, as I have in all the coaching staff. But he tells me things that sometimes others don’t dare to say.

“I am convinced that the coaching staff is very well prepared. It’s a young coaching staff, which gives me a lot of enthusiasm. He also spoke about Francesco de Simone, we also have a very good team of analysts at the club.

“I really like my coaching staff because we have been working together for a long time and we are a family and in that environment you are able to get the best out of everyone.”

Concluding, Ancelotti stated that Real Madrid’s troubles this season did not come from having a lack of belief, but it was the injuries in defence that hurt them.

“I don’t think so. It has not been a problem of creating belief. This team in the past has been able to believe things when nobody else believed it. The comebacks we’ve had have been because of that.

“It’s been an obvious problem that, as I said, the key to the season has been the injuries we’ve had in defence. There have been too many injuries and to very important players.

“In the game against Barcelona we were missing Militao, Alaba, Rudiger, Carvajal and Mendy. That’s where the problem has been.”

Source: AS