Carlo Ancelotti did without Eden Hazard and former Lyonnais Mariano Diaz in the group called for the trip to Valencia on Sunday in La Liga. But of course, Karim Benzema is one of them. The Real Madrid coach wanted to defend his captain this Saturday in front of the press, three days after the beating at Manchester City (4-0) in the semi-final return of the Champions League.
“Doubting Karim Benzema makes no sense, dropped the Italian, while the former Blue went through the meeting like a shadow, like most of his teammates. He can have a bad game, it can happen, but it was not the only one on Wednesday. Karim remains and will be a very important player, a legend of this club. If he doesn’t play well, it doesn’t change anything. Wednesday, the whole team was not good, not just Karim. »
Second place far from certain
While FC Barcelona is already champion of Spain, Real is fighting to keep its second place threatened by Atlético, which is two points behind its neighbor with four days remaining.
“It’s been a good season, but it sure could have been better,” slipped Ancelotti. “But we will try to see what we can do better. We are not satisfied with our Liga, but in other competitions, we won the Spanish Cup and we fought until the last moment in the Champions League, ”he recalled.
“It’s just a loss. I still have enthusiasm and the desire to do better here. Everyone knows my situation, I have a contract until June 30, 2024 and I want to honor it”, also launched “Carletto”. A way to deny the rumors about a possible departure for the Brazilian selection.