Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti spoke real madridOn the condition of his players, especially Karim Benzema, before returning to activity and facing Valladolid in the Spanish League.
Will stand real madrid To face Valladolid, Wednesday, December 30, in the Spanish League championship.
Karim Benzema had left the French national team camp before the start of their career in the World Cup, where he was told that his injury would not make him able to participate in any of the matches in the tournament, which his agent denied, in addition to the participation of the owner of the Golden Ball in friendly matches for Real Madrid during World Cup period.
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Sum up this goal in 1 word! ????@Benzema | @FrenchTeam | #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/qhfOFxlFEF
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 17, 2021
Ancelotti said in the press conference for the Valladolid match: “We arrived well here, with the passion to return. We have Benzema back well, the players are back from their holidays after the World Cup in good health, regardless that I will give priority to the players who stayed here, apart from Mariano, who has a sprain and won’t be there tomorrow.”
And he added: “Benzema returned to work with the team, he returned after 10 days of the World Cup break, he played 30 and 45 minutes in friendly matches and he feels happy, with tremendous enthusiasm, he will show all his abilities this season.”
And he added, “I will not go into France’s decision with Benzema. They assessed Karim’s condition in an instant and thought that he would not have the opportunity to play in the entire World Cup.”
He added, “The player returned with great enthusiasm here, very excited. He knows the first part of the season wasn’t so good and he wants to show his stuff in the second part.”
Players stats
Regarding the difficulties after the World Cup, he said: “Assessing what will happen is very complicated. It is a calendar that requires a lot. We have the Spanish Super Cup and the Club World Cup. Until March we have a lot of matches and you have to do a personal evaluation of the player. You have to put the players in good shape. The World Cup players had to be given a rest, there are no rest days, until February 19, we will play every three days.”
And about Eden Hazard, he said: “Hazard has trained well and I see him as better than he was before the World Cup, he did a good job. With many matches to come, he will be one of the players I will use.
On the team’s defensive problems: “Clean sheets are not only for Courtois, but for everyone. At this moment we defended worse than last year and now it’s time to do better.”
And about whether the 2022 World Cup in Qatar ended the “tiki-taka” style of play, he said: “No, I have always said that there is no one way to play football, and passing balls is also important. The key is to read the match situations, because a lot happens in 90 minutes. Sometimes you can’t be so obsessed with touching the ball once and making the pass, you can win with counter-attacks or other things.”