The awards of the Ballon d'Or gala marked Carlo Ancelotti's preview conference in Valdebebas, prior to tomorrow's game, Wednesday, between Real Madrid and Elche. The Italian coach was satisfied with the awards received by the club in Paris and only showed his disappointment a little because there were players from his team excluded from the list of the best: "I am very proud of Karim (Benzema) and Thibaut (Courtois ), what surprises me is that there are players who are not in the top thirty list: Kroos, Valverde, Militão, Alaba... Someone may think that I have a conflict of interest, but of course, I do," he said.
The debate on the style of this Ancelotti's Real Madrid also came up in the intervention of the Italian coach. "For me, to be told that the team is cholista is a compliment. I saw Atlético against Athletic the other day and it was a very entertaining game. Later I heard Simeone say that he was moved and I agree. If they say that the Real Madrid is cholista, it is a compliment", commented.
Ancelotti expressly congratulated all those who had won an award at the Paris gala: "I congratulate all those who have won: Gavi, Putellas, Lewandowski, Mané... Also Manchester City, a club that we have great respect for him and that he has had a fantastic season".
Later, when Ancelotti was asked what he thought of the fact that his team had only been chosen as the third best club, behind Liverpool and Manchester City, he said: "I don't know the criteria very well because they don't talk about the team. Madrid is the best team and That's why he won the Champions League. I have all the respect for that award. The most important award we received was in May".
The coach referred to what has changed in Benzema in recent years: "He is a player who has much more responsibility and feels much more like a leader than he was eight years ago. Technically he has not changed much, because his technical quality is same as eight years ago. What has changed is his responsibility and his attitude." And he repeated: "He is much more of a leader."
Ancelotti sees it well that Vinícius was ranked eighth in the Ballon d'Or ranking: "Yes, it's fair because this allows him to try to improve what he did last year. It gives him the opportunity to be more motivated to do better", he stated .
The coach acknowledged that he did not expect to win everything he won last season: "I didn't think so. What we have achieved so far has been very good. By working at this club it can happen to you. For me, it is not so surprising Here you have everything to be successful: history, tradition, competition, quality of the players, atmosphere... At the beginning of last season I had many more doubts than now", he declared.
Ancelotti was asked if he thinks the Mbappé issue is a closed case and he didn't get too wet: "I don't know what the future will bring. I don't know what can happen. But the future of this club and this team is already written I already said it last year. We have young players, like Vinícius, Rodrygo, Camavinga, Tchouaméni, Valverde, Militao... The players change and I'm sure next year's squad won't be the same as this one, but these players have already designed the future of Real Madrid", he affirmed.
Madrid expects a difficult game at the Martínez Valero. "For the game against Elche, the preparation, especially on a mental level, we have to push it a little more. It is normal to have maximum concentration in high-level games and it is a little more difficult to have it after a game that has cost you physical and mental level. We take it into account, knowing that we play the same three points tomorrow that we won on Sunday", he concluded.
The coach announced that Courtois will not be available against Elche either and that he will return on Saturday against Sevilla at the Bernabeu.
