Ancelotti: “Militão’s injury doesn’t look good, we’re not ruling anything out”

Real Madrid have started 2023/24 with a win, overcoming Athletic Club 2-0 in Bilbao. Analysing the game in the press room afterwards, Carlo Ancelotti said: “It was a very good performance, especially in the first half. We played with a lot of intensity and took control of the scoreboard. We had less control and rhythm in the second half, but we did well at the back. When we have a good attitude defensively, we’re a lot more solid there. We were well-positioned and strong in our duels.”

Ancelotti on the Militão injury

The negative from the night was Militão’s injury and Ancelotti was asked for an update. He said: “It’s a sprained knee. It doesn’t look good, but we’ll evaluate it in the coming hours. We hope it’s nothing serious. We’re worried and not ruling anything out.”

Ancelotti on Bellingham’s performance

The coach was asked about Jude Bellingham’s debut and about how quickly he has adapted to the new team and to the diamond system. To that, the coach said: “Bellingham is a high-level player. He has a lot of personality and has adapted very quickly to the system. It seems like he has been with us for a long time. The team is comfortable playing in this way. We’ve worked a lot on it. Valverde and Camavinga worked well so that we’d suffer less at the back. The three up front are so dangerous.”

Ancelotti on Rodrygo vs Joselu

Asked about Rodrygo, who was given the start up front instead of Joselu, Ancelotti said: “He is an important player, who has different characteristics to a player like Joselu. We can ask Rodrygo to also play out wide, but we can’t do that with Joselu, as we have to adapt the outside play a bit more with him. Rodrygo is adjusting well to this system. He needs to continue with his progression. I think he’ll start more this season than last, so he should score more.”

Ancelotti on benching Kroos and Modrić

Neither Kroos nor Modrić started the game and the Italian was asked if they’ll be backups for most of this season. He replied: “We have many great midfielders in the squad. I can’t say that they’ll be backups, because they’ll play important matches, like they did last season. I’ve picked this line-up today, but it might change.”

Ancelotti on Lunin’s performance and the Kepa reports

The coach was also asked to evaluate Lunin’s performance and if he wants Kepa to be signed. Ancelotti responded: “Lunin did very well. He was calm and focused. He did well with high balls and brought the ball out from the back. He didn’t have many chances to show his quality because we did so well at the back. Kepa? I don’t speak about players who aren’t Real Madrid players.”