Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti revealed plans that could help avoid player burnout in what … [+] could be a season of more than 70 matches. Furthermore, he also talked about missing a certain departed club legend ahead of his team’s 2024/2025 debut against Mallorca on Sunday.
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti revealed plans that might help avoid player burnout, in what could be a season of more than 70 matches for his men.
Furthermore, he also talked about missing a certain departed club legend ahead of his team’s 2024/2025 debut against Mallorca on Sunday.
To kick off his prematch press conference on Saturday afternoon in the Spanish capital, Ancelotti vowed that Madrid will start its new campaign “with all the enthusiasm to keep the title we deservedly won” last time round.
“Mallorca is always complicated. We don’t know how many competitions we are going to play, there are two that are not clear,” he added, in a nod to the Intercontinental Cup and the reimagined Club World Cup. “What is clear is that we are all going to compete”.
Players such as right back Dani Carvajal have already complained about what could be a 70-plus match season as Los Blancos contest seven competitions.
To avoid player burnout, Ancelotti revealed that the club is “thinking about giving one-week holidays during the season”, and especially to international stars that regularly feature for their countries.
“The players need to rest … We are studying it. It’s the only way,” Ancelotti insisted.
“Vinicius when he returns from the [Brazil] national team, well, he rests that day, for example. What we will do is give him vacations,” the Italian explained further, at another point of his sitdown with the media.
Amid confirming that Jude Bellingham’s new deeper role will not change, Ancelotti said that “we will always miss him” in relation to the club legend whose retirement prompted that position switch.
“There is no one like him,” Ancelotti remarked about Toni Kroos. “[But] it’s not a bad thing to have to look for new things. It’s good for concentration.”
Given that a treble-winning outfit has added Kylian Mbappe – tipped to score 50 goals – to its arsenal, Madrid is regarded a runaway favourite to retain its La Liga crown.
“Favourite or not, we have to fight for it,” Ancelotti said. “The quality of Spanish football is there, with its clubs, the Euros, the Olympic Games… It’s a fun league. What I have seen of the first [matches] I have liked. The semi-automatic offside is going to help us.”
