Carlo Ancelotti appeared in the Santiago Bernabéu press room after Real Madrid vs. Valencia in the 30th matchday of the championship: “Now it’s more complicated to fight for the league, but we want to do well until the end because we still have options. We have to keep fighting until the last game”.
“We must keep in mind that small details have condemned us. The penalty, the set piece and the disallowed goal. They are small details that change the dynamic of the match. Valencia did a fantastic job but Madrid deserved to win the game. There are also things to improve”.
Penalty takers
"It has been a complicated season for penalty takers. Bellingham missed against Valencia, Mbappé missed in Bilbao and against Liverpool and Vinicius also missed against Atlético. Today I wanted to give him the confidence to take it and he also missed it.”
Assessment of the match
"During the match we created a lot of chances, we were very close to scoring goals but we lacked a bit of effectiveness and in recovering the ball. We conceded very little, but opposing teams don't need to work hard to score against us. They scored from a set piece and in the end we took a risk to win the game and they scored from a counterattack”.
Fran González's debut and the available goalkeepers
"Courtois has trained today and has felt good, tomorrow he will train. We didn't want to take any risks with Lunin and he will have two or three more days to recover. Then we'll see on Tuesday because I think we'll have both options”.
Defensive aspect
"We did well offensively, creating many chances but we lacked effectiveness. Defensively we could have done better, not so much because of Valencia's chances but more so because of ball recovery, because it cost us”.
Vini Jr.
"Vinicius is focused on what he’s doing. He may do well or badly but he always gives his all”.
Self-criticism
"You have the right to criticise what you want, as I also have the right to say how I saw the game. We have deserved some defeats this season, but today's wasn’t one of them. There was no lack of attitude today.”
Arsenal
"We missed the chance to fight for the league with more forcefulness. The match against Arsenal will be different because they will attack more and we have to be more solid. In addition, we need to be more effective in front of goal.”
Does Mbappé become the first-choice penalty taker?
“We'll see”.
Demanding schedule
"It's a very demanding schedule and we have to suffer. There are no easy games, we have fought in all of them and we’ll try to do our best. Sometimes we’re able to and sometimes not”.