CNN Español
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After the arrival of French striker Kylian Mbappé in July 2024, Real Madrid was in the eyes of much of the football world as a great candidate to win everything.
The challenge for Carlo Ancelotti, coach of the white box, was the same as the previous season: motivating a squad that had won almost everything (he only lacked the Copa del Rey) to succeed again.
But Ancelotti seems to have been found in an indecipherable maze. In the midst of a lesions, those in the capital come from being eliminated from the European Champions League in the quarterfinals at the hands of the Arsenal. To this is added the fall in the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona in January. And precisely, his eternal rival takes four points of advantage in the League of Spain, he will also be his opponent in the final of the Copa del Rey.
The panorama of whites, and of Ancelotti above all, looks full of doubts in the final stretch of the season. A path that he toured in the past successfully, but that in this season could end with his departure from Real Madrid, unless he can ruin a possible triplet to his eternal rival and do not forget the club of clubs that are coming.
“At this point of the season there is always a lot of pressure, because we are reaching the end. And it is evident that stress and pressure increase. But, as I always say, stress is gasoline for me,” said the Italian strategist at the press conference prior to the whites’ match against Getafe, the last match before the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona, this Saturday in Seville, which can be transcendental for his future.
In addition to Mbappé, for this season Real Madrid incorporated the Brazilian striker Endrick, just 18 years old, after suffering several casualties in the recess before the competition: the German midfielder Toni Kroos retired, the contracts of the Spanish central Nacho or Joselu were not renew Champions League.
And nothing more at the beginning of the current season, the misfortune of the injuries was primed with Ancelotti and his plans: he lost Eder Militao due to a new breakage of the anterior cross ligament and David Alaba was still recovering from the same ailment, from which he could not return until January 2025.
Ancelotti then entered a maze similar to that of the previous campaign, with injuries and a squad that did not find a natural substitute to replace the departure of Karim Benzema. But, in this case, the motivational factor was another inconvenience to overcome, and with a squad full of stars that came from satisfying its hunger for glory with a new crown of Champions League, its “left -handed hand” was questioned.
“Many times I have asked me this (about their close relationship with the players). I try to handle the relationship for how I am. This season I have angry many times, but that does not mean hard hand. The key is to have respect and be respected and here it has passed. I repeat, you have to have the footballer what it is in life. No one has been related to me with right hand: my father, trainers, teacher … other times they told me that I have to use the whip. Coach.
In a club like Real Madrid, winning is always the slogan. And Ancelotti knows it. This is why, although he still has the Copa del Rey, the League, and the Club World Cup before closing the current season, the truth is that the elimination of its fetish competition, the Champions League, left it touched for the future.
Losing the Copa del Rey against the eternal rival, Barcelona, who also commands the league with 4 points ahead (with a direct duel between the two slope in Montjuic), would mean a lapidary squeak for the Italian and its continuity on the white bench.
“In football everything is possible. Are you surprised by something that happens in football? I have no revenge against anyone or anything. I love this bench. That I can continue as far as possible and, if one day ends, thank, and take off my hat to this club. Nothing more,” said the coach.
“The general” Ancelotti is caught in a maze, but he, faithful to his quiet style, will try to extend his future beyond Seville and the final of the Copa del Rey, where the trophy prize, and ruin a possible triplet to his rival, can show him the exit of the road.
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