Last Updated:
The Italian also brushed away rumours of potentially losing his job at the end of the season.
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti (X)
The bigger the occasion, the better Real Madrid get. Well, it’s usually the case with Los Blancos in the Champions League.
Real will definitely hope to revive the same spirit yet again this coming Wednesday, and to pull off a ‘Remontada’ of their own against Arsenal, said coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Champions Los Blancos, second, are chasing leaders Barcelona in La Liga, in a race that seems to likely end in the Catalans’ favour.
To add to their misery, Madrid were also duly humbled/humiliated 3-0 by Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg last week.
Having conceded 11 goals in their last four games across all competitions, Ancelotti called for his defense to buckle up.
“Above all in recent weeks there’s been a general dip (among the team),” Ancelotti told in a conference Saturday.
“We have let in a lot of goals in recent games and we have to put a stop to that, above all when those up front are not as effective as usual.”
Ancelotti insisted his players would be focused on their primary task at hand, facing Alaves in La Liga, and not the second leg against Arsenal.
“Everyone is thinking about Wednesday but all that depends on our performance tomorrow.
“Each defeat is always the same, when you lose, these are difficult moments… but luckily in football after a defeat, an opportunity arrives.
“The team has trained well and is focussed.”
Much has been said about Real Madrid’s play in the first leg, with the 15-time European champions seemingly scrambling against the Mikel Arteta-led Gunners, who overpowered the visitors at the Emirates.
Ancelotti admitted that Arsenal had worked harder to win the game.
“It’s a question of the players’ attributes. The same thing happened in previous years, we were able to win by running less total distance. The statistics talk a lot about total distance but not about sprint distance, which isn’t like this.
“Despite this, we have won two Champions League trophies. Against Arsenal, we did less in every aspect: in sprint distance, in total distance, and in acceleration. They worked harder than us,” he concluded.
In fact, Ancelotti knew that what he needed was nothing short of a miracle: a Remontada in fact.
“Remontada vs Arsenal? We will try, for sure. It happened many times,” Ancelotti stated.
“Real Madrid is the only team that has done it many times, but we’ll try to do it once again. We’re aware of how much our fans and the stadium can help us. We’re going to try until the last minute and until the last ball, starting tomorrow.”
The Italian also brushed away rumours of potentially losing his job at the end of the season.
“The contract is quite clear and we will talk about the future at the end of the season,” he said, with his deal expiring in 2026.
“The club always supports me, above all in the difficult moments.”
