Real Madrid are set to face Lille in their upcoming UEFA Champions League match, and the Merengues have already travelled to France for this game. Los Blancos won their opening match of the competition against Stuttgart and Ancelotti will be looking to maintain his team’s winning run in the competition with another win tonight.
Ahead of this game, Carlo Ancelotti undertook his customary press conference at the Decathlon Arena and talked about several subjects related to this game and Real Madrid in particular.
As MARCA has reported, the Italian tactician clarified his and his team’s intentions ahead for this game, while also identifying one of the main strengths of this Lille team:
“We are here to earn points. They play well with the ball. As always in the Champions League, we will have to fight and compete. That’s what we’re here for. We can raise our level, and we’re ready to improve and be at our best.”
Incidents that took place during the Madrid derby last Sunday at the Wanda Metropolitano have caused quite a stir in Spanish football. Diego Simeone’s reaction to these incidents have put further fuel to the fire, and Ancelotti made clear his disagreement with the Atletico Madrid counterpart:
“I respect everyone’s opinion, but this topic is quite clear. There were violent acts, and the violent should not be in a football stadium or in society. What happened was seen by everyone. The violent should not be in society.”
The Italian tactician also did not believe that Simeone’s statements of punitive action against Courtois addressed the main problem:
“Talking about other things is somewhat diverting attention from what happened. The point is that the violent should not be in a football stadium. Football doesn’t need these kinds of characters; they are unnecessary. They should stay where they are not dangerous. It’s better if the violent leave us alone.”
Atletico Madrid fans have already been accused of discriminatory and violent behaviour in the past, and this is a problem that needs to be addressed by Spanish football authorities as soon as possible. Hopefully, incidents like those that took place last Sunday will not happen again in the future, allowing the players and the spectators to get full joy out of the beautiful game.
