Carlo Ancelotti, current coach of Everton from England, launched a particular confession from his time as coach of the Real Madrid. The Italian pointed out how they prepared in the matches in which he faced Lionel Messi, crack of the eternal rival, Barcelona. “When I was at Real Madrid and we played many times against Messi, who was one of the best rivals, I never told the players about Messi. They were going to be scared “, outlined the 61-year-old DT.
This Saturday Everton faced the Manchester City for the FA Cup, where they were defeated 2-0 in the final minutes with goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne. In the run-up to this game and in the face of City’s spectacular presence, Ancelotti recalled an experience in his time at Real Madrid where he assured that his players were not talking about Messi because they were going to “scare”. He just used that statement to compare him with Pep Guardiola’s current team.
“I try not to talk too much about the City. Everyone knows the players and the individual and team quality. Focus on what you have to do. I am satisfied because this week worked well. I don’t know if we can show the same quality as in training, but I hope so ”, said the Italian coach in the previous match. Although they played a great game, their team lost in the final minutes for the FA Cup quarterfinals.
In addition, Ancelotti said about his current team that “in this period from the start of the season until now we showed some quality, maybe the technical quality was sometimes good and not so good, but we showed encouragement and won difficult games. For these types of matches you have to show your quality and not try to defend the opponent’s quality. If you focus on your game, you don’t have to worry too much about your opponent. “
Ancelotti at Real Madrid
Ancelotti managed Real Madrid between 2013 and 2015 where he faced Messi’s Barcelona several times. Precisely the Italian did not have good results against Barça, since in the 2013/2014 season he lost the two classics (he directed Tata Martino) but he retaliated in the final of the Copa del Rey. In 2014/2015 they won 3-1 at home but lost 2-1 on the road. The DT achieved great trophies with Madrid, highlighting a Champions League, a European Super Cup and a Club World Cup.
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