Real Madrid’s Ancelotti wants Manchester City ‘out of the way’

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti explained why he took out midfielder Jude Bellingham during Wednesday’s 5-1 defeat of RB Salzburg in the Champions League championship stage, and later joked that putting Manchester City “sidelined” would not be a bad thing. idea.

The elite competition’s reigning champions made it easier for their Austrian opponents at the Bernabeu, and Ancelotti said Movistar that his team “achieved the objective”, which was to “win and try to have a good match”.

With Madrid having scored 14 goals in their last three outings, the Italian said that “obviously there is no doubt about the quality of what is happening up front.”

“We tried to fix the rest, because our efficiency up front is incredible. The other things need to be fixed. Sometimes we do it well and sometimes less. But we are on a good path,” Ancelotti said.

Conceded at a time when the points were already in the bag with Madrid leading 5-0, Ancelotti insisted he was “not angry at the goal” at Salzburg.

“In defense we did well. (Antonio) Rudiger was very good today, (David) Alaba is back, (Raul) Asencio is doing well. It’s a collective problem. That’s the key to this If we can have a collective commitment, we will succeed and we will be able to enjoy quality from the start.

Bellingham being taken off shortly after the hour mark was a worrying sight for Madrid fans, but Ancelotti explained that the Englishman – who was fantastic with two assists for Rodrygo in the opening 11 minutes – had a “back problem” which was “nothing special”. “.

“I had the opportunity to take minutes from someone and I took them away from Bellingham and (Kylian) Mbappe to be fresher,” Ancelotti concluded.

By that, Ancelotti had to nod towards Saturday’s La Liga clash at Real Valladolid in a late-night affair.

Madrid are two points clear at the top of the Spanish top flight, but could even trail crosstown foes and title-race rival Atletico Madrid by a point at the start. sending off given that Diego Simeone’s men could have beaten Villarreal in a match earlier in the afternoon.

Back at the UCL, Ancelotti told his post-match press conference it would be “good news to put City away now” after Pep Guardiola’s side lost 4-2 at Paris Saint-Germain and that she is now on the verge of a superb match. knockout championship phase.

Ancelotti explained that this is “because for me he is one of the candidates to win the Champions League again.” Yet that doesn’t seem likely unless former FC Barcelona coach Guardiola manages to radically turn around the Mancunians’ fortunes.