Following a crushing 4-0 defeat at the hands of city rivals Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has defended under-fire Cristiano Ronaldo who has been severely criticized for hosting a birthday party just hours after the defeat. The Italian also confirmed that the club President visited the team in order to enquire about their form as Barcelona play catch up in the race for the La Liga.
Cristiano Ronaldo made the headlines for celebrating his birthday party just hours after suffering a humiliating defeat against Atletico Madrid last week. However manager Carlo Ancelotti supported his star winger and claims that he has no doubts regarding Ronaldoa s professionalism and commitment towards the team.
a This is not important for me, I never cared about the players’ private life. Everybody is able to do what he wants, I have to make clear that these players are professional and have always showed a lot of commitment. We were all frustrated after this match, the fans are frustrated and we are as well. This is a good motivation to try to improve things, the team has reacted well and they have understood the problems we had. We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s game.a
Carlo Ancelotti also revealed that President Florentino Perez met with the team in order to seek an explanation for the defeat but claimed that Perez still had confidence in the team and the manager to win titles.
“The President came and talked to us in a positive manner. it’s obvious that he wanted to know what was going on but we all will try to find the answer for these problems. He also showed his confidence because he believes that this roster is competitive to fight for the titles.”
Carlo Ancelotti blamed last yeara s intense schedule for Real Madrida s failure in 2015 but believes that the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and co have the ability to repeat the heroics of the last season.
“After what happened at the end of last year our intensity, concentration and attitude dropped a little. I don’t know if this is normal or not, but this is what happened. We know need to focus on our current goals. the game against Atl tico went the wrong way, but after such a successful streak that we had, this can happen. We have time to recover, we’re still at the top of the table and I’m confident that we will be able to react and repeat what happened last season.”
Speaking about the team, Carlo Ancelotti revealed that he will not change Iker Casillas for Keylor Navas despite the captaina s mistake against Atletico Madrid leading to the opening goal at the Vicente Calderon. He also spoke about Lucas Silva and revealed that the new signing might get a few minutes against Deportivo at the Santiago Bernabeu.
a Silva is not going to start, but if I have the chance I will give him minutes. He’s improved his condition but tomorrow Illarramendi will start alongside Kroos. He’s now ready to start a game.a
a We have some injured players, the team will not change much. I might start Arbeloa in Carvajal’s spot and Illarra in Khedira’s, the rest of the team will be the same. I will not change the goalkeeper.a
The manager also claimed that he has the belief in the team to spring back from the disappointing run and backed Cristiano Ronaldo and co to get back to their winning ways soon.
a I’m calm because I know how professional these players are. That’s why I’m confident, I’m sure that we will be competitive again. Saturday’s loss was surprising, not because of the loss but because of the result, it was a negative surprise.a