Ancelotti: We just have to live with the injuries

Ahead of tomorrow night’s significant Champions League clash against Atlético, Carlo Ancelotti has played down the severity of his supposed injury ‘crisis’, and assured that his team are ready for any circumstances.

Injuries to Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Luka Modrić have blighted Real’s preparations in the days leading up to the game, but the Italian insisted that they can do nothing else but get on with things.

“We just have to live with the injuries,” Ancelotti said. “They have happened in previous months where we’ve also played in important games. Guys like Bale, Cristiano and Alonso were missing during key periods last season too. I’m convinced that the squad is good and fresh.”

With the likes of Chicharito expected to come in for the big game, Ancelotti was then asked if he feels that the deputising options ‘deserve’ to feature in a meeting of such magnitude. “Everyone in the squad deserves to play because they’re all doing very well physically,” he insisted, “those that are available are sound in both motivational and physical terms, so they deserve to feature.”

Offering his thoughts on the encounter itself, Ancelotti admitted that he’s expecting another fame of fine margins, and that there will be no rush to get on the scoresheet from either side.  “It’s going to be a closely-fought game in all aspects,” he assured, “Atlético won’t be in any hurry to get themselves a goal, but neither will we. We’ll go into it with the idea of playing well from the first minute.”

Finally, when quizzed about the possibility of penalties, the Real Madrid boss revealed that his team have been planning for that eventuality, but it’s not always definitive. “We are prepared for penalties,” Ancelotti declared, “training them is always difficult though. The atmosphere of a game is far removed from that which you have in a training session.”