City-Real, Ancelotti’s conference

“There’s nothing that can take away my sleep.” Carlo Ancelotti is preparing the second leg of the quarterfinals against Manchester City after the wonderful 3-3 draw in the first leg. In the bench of the Etihad Stadium, which tomorrow will be the theater of that dream called the Champions League semi-final, Carlo raises his eyebrow as only he knows how to do when they ask him if there is anything that can take away his sleep, before the second match in a week with the reigning European champions. “I have so much faith in my team, in my players, in how well we are doing and in what we have done this year. I will sleep well tonight.”

TRUST

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Ancelotti refuses to see the match as a duel between bench giants with Pep Guardiola and puts the focus back on the players. “The first match was very good and competitive and I’m sure this one will be too: football belongs to the players though”. True, but it’s also up to masters like him who have to prepare the match. And Carlo, ranging between Spanish and English, has a clear idea of ​​what type of game he has to prepare. “We want to play a complete game,” he says, “we have to attack, defend, avoid losing the ball, play well in attack and on the counterattack. We can’t just focus on one aspect of the game. And we don’t have to think about last year’s match: what was, we only have to keep in mind the first leg match last week. We have to fight, have confidence in what we are trying to do: we are tied, there are another 90 minutes to play and anything can happen. We must have the confidence that we possess the qualities needed to create problems. But Pep can rest assured: we know each other well, there’s nothing to invent.”

CALM

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Ancelotti conveys one of his best qualities as a coach: calm. He is as much in control of the press conference as he is of the match. He refuses to be dragged into the controversy over Haaland (“He is probably the best center forward in the world and if he didn’t score in the first leg it’s thanks to our defense”), to recognize Real-City as the new modern classic of the Champions League, despite the two teams face each other in the direct elimination phase for the third consecutive year (“There are many teams that can win the Champions League”), to be intimidated by the statistics that say that Real Madrid lost 4-0 here last year and that City did not losing at home in the cup for years. “For me statistics are made to be overcome. There are many places where Real Madrid hadn’t won and with me they won.”

BELLINGHAM

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Calm and confidence is what the player who preceded Ancelotti in the Etihad press room also conveyed: Jude Bellingham. Mature well beyond his 20s, more in difficulty with the Spaniard than he is with the defenses of La Liga, the new Real star paid homage to his manager by recognizing how important he was for his phenomenal insertion at Real. “The signature of a great coach is when he makes you believe you are better than you think you can be. Ancelotti gives me that trust every day – says Bellingham -, as well as the freedom to take to the pitch and be as effective as possible. He was incredible with me, he helped me understand my potential even by letting me play for the first time in my career. It’s definitely thanks to him that I started so well and I’m extremely grateful to have him as a coach.” There is another message well beyond his 20 years that Bellingham wants to send, a strong one against racism and not just in support of his friend Vinicius. “It’s shameful what he has to suffer, shameful that a player has to prepare for an away match knowing that opposing fans can insult him because of the color of his skin. I would like football to do more to prevent this from happening, because if someone like Vini was forced to take a step back because of what is happening it would be a huge loss for all of football.”