Carlo Ancelotti insists he does not fear Barcelona
Carlo Ancelotti said he has the utmost respect for Barcelona, but he does not fear the LaLiga leaders, who they meet in Saturday’s Clasico.
Barcelona currently have a three-point lead at the top of the table, having won all but one of their 10 matches.
But Madrid are unbeaten in the league this campaign and are in fact on the cusp of history. They are one game away from matching the longest unbeaten run in the history of LaLiga, recorded by Ernesto Valverde’s Barca (43) between 2017 and 2018.
They have won 31 and drawn 11 of the matches in that timeframe, with their last league defeat coming against rivals Atletico Madrid on September 25 last year.
And Ancelotti, who pointed out that Madrid are the reigning champions in Spain, said his team will not be intimidated by the task ahead of them.
“Fortunately, at the moment nobody keeps me awake at night,” Ancelotti told a press conference on Friday.
“[Barcelona] are doing very well. But in a match like the Clasico, it’s very difficult to pick a favourite beforehand. It depends on the dynamics of the match. It’s a matter of how you are able to handle the pressure, to deal with the tempo and how to identify the moments of the match…
“Barca have a very clear idea of how they play the game, they are performing very well. They are a very brave team, and we need to prepare well for the game and try to play our best version.”
Barca travel to Madrid on the back of a 4-1 Champions League win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday, maintaining Flick’s outstanding start with 11 wins from 13 matches in all competitions.
Madrid, however, have come under moderate criticism from pundits about starting their games slowly, raising questions about their motivation after winning both the LaLiga and Champions League titles last season.
The latest example was in their Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, when they had to fight back from two goals down after a dismal first half, only to score five goals after the break, with Vinicius Junior netting a hat-trick.
Ancelotti is not worried about his players’ mindset, though, and believes they will be ready from the start due to the seriousness of their rivalry.
“Usually, in this style of match, you don’t have to talk as much beforehand… The idea is to define a very clear, very simple strategy… and nothing else,” Ancelotti added.
“It’s not a type of match where you have to give big speeches. Playing like we did in the second half against Dortmund for 90 minutes is impossible, but that should be our starting point, what we will try to achieve. I think we did a lot of things right.
“We will prepare the game to do the right things with and without the ball. We have to play a complete game to win, and we will try to do that.”
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