Ancelotti dispels rumours of Real Madrid exit; hopes club can finish in Champions League top eight

Ancelotti dispels rumours of Real Madrid exit; hopes club can finish in Champions League top eight

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti said he did not plan to leave the club but mentioned that this decision is not in his hands at a press conference on Tuesday.

“I want to be very clear: I will never decide when I have to leave Madrid, it’s not me who decides,” said Ancelotti ahead of his team’s Champions League clash against RB Salzburg.

He dismissed reports that he was planning to leave Madrid at the end of the season.

“I’m sure it will happen someday, but I don’t know exactly when. It can be after tomorrow’s match or it can be five years from now.”

Real Madrid has lost half of its Champions League games and is in 20th place in the new league phase. Only the top eight teams go directly to the round of 16 of the new format.

“We don’t have a lot of chances to make it into the top eight,” Ancelotti said. “But if we have to play the extra games we will do it as best we can. We are used to a very demanding calendar already.”

Ancelotti said he was content with his forward line but stressed that his side still needed improvements in defence to contend for the Champions League title.

“It’s hard to give a grade from one to 100 to the team right now,” he said.

“Offensively we’re performing very well but defensively we need to improve a lot. This will be the key to success this season. If we do that we’ll fight to the end in all competitions.

“We have a very complete squad and, considering what happened last year when the departures raised the level of commitment, we found inspiration. We’re ready to fight for it all again this year.”

(With inputs from AP and Reuters)