Real Madrid coach Ancelotti complains about injury to his FC Barcelona star

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti lamented the serious injury to FC Barcelona star Marc Bernal and took the opportunity to criticise the football calendar before addressing Kylian Mbappe's goal drought at a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

Bernal, who started all three of Barça's consecutive victories at the start of the season, could potentially be out of action for the 2024/2025 season after suffering a cruciate ligament tear and “associated lateral meniscus injury” shortly after Ancelotti's speech to the media.

Ancelotti has experienced this himself: this time last year he lost Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao either on or around the opening day to the same setback, and David Alaba also had to say goodbye around Christmas with another cruciate ligament tear.

The Italian said that “injuries make things most complicated at this stage of the season.”

“That's what happens when the schedule is too tight and there's no time to prepare. You have to choose between work and vacation. And when the vacation is over, 10-11 months of work come. That's a lot. In August the intensity is [at the] maximum and you do not have the right preparation. This is a problem for everyone … and it is sad. Very [sad]. I want to compete against the best players.”

Ancelotti declined to comment on the registration controversy surrounding Dani Olmo, whom Real Madrid TV described as a “sea of ​​dirt” in a “third world competition” after the 2024 European champion scored the winning goal at Rayo in the game in which Bernal was forced out injured.

“This is a question for La Liga, we respect all clubs,” explained Ancelotti.

While Olmo scored on his debut for the Catalans, Madrid's biggest summer signing, Kylian Mbappe, has yet to score in his two Spanish league games.

When asked if he was worried about the Frenchman's “dry spell”, Ancelotti recalled that Mbappe's last goal was on 14 August in the UEFA
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Supercup triumph against Atalanta.

“It's only been two weeks! It's not a good time to worry. Neither for us nor for him. He wants to score a goal, that's clear. And he will.”

Ancelotti said Mbappe is “making progress” and “working with humility” while his adjustment is “going well”.

He was reminded of having said in 2014 that having Cristiano Ronaldo in his lineup was as if Los Blancos were “already leading 1-0” every game, and was therefore asked if this was also the case with Mbappe.

“And [also] “We have a lot of resources because of Rodrygo, Vinicius… We have scored six goals and the team is not yet at its best. That says a lot. We will never have problems with goals, that's what you can see,” Ancelotti stressed.