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| Head coach Carlo Ancelotti (R) of Real Madrid shakes hands with Vinicius Junior after a substitution during the La Liga week 27 soccer match between Real Madrid and Real Valladolid at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain on April 02, 2023. |
Real Madrid will try to keep cool heads as they bid to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the Copa del Rey Clasico semi-final second leg, Carlo Ancelotti said Tuesday.
The Spanish champions visit arch-rivals Barcelona on Wednesday as they bid to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat in the derby.
Eder Militao’s own goal split the teams in the first leg in March as Madrid dominated but could not break down Barcelona’s solid defence.
“The idea is not to go crazy to try and score a goal,” said Madrid coach Ancelotti.
“The idea is to play a complete game, with and without the ball.
“We won’t go mad, because you can score a goal in the fifth minute and then let in two.”
Real Madrid have lost three consecutive Clasicos, defeated by Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final in January, the cup first leg and most recently 2-1 in La Liga at Camp Nou.
“Barca have beaten us the last three times, so I think now it’s our turn to win,” said Ancelotti.
The coach thought his team played well in the latter two games.
“We have to evaluate that in the last two games we have done well, we don’t just look at the results,” added Ancelotti.
“We we were close to winning the last match at the Camp Nou.”
The Italian coach confirmed defender Antonio Rudiger is fit, meaning Madrid have their full squad available aside from Ferland Mendy.
Ancelotti admitted it was difficult to choose between his midfielders, with Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga all vyinOkg to start.
“The hardest thing is to choose (who plays),” said Ancelotti.
“Not just today, always. The mentality of the players will not change, they want to play from the start, they don’t want to come on.
“It’s very hard to choose a side, because obviously there are more than 11 who deserve to play, there are 14 or 15.”