Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is not too concerned about the 2-1 friendly loss to Barcelona in the United States, as the Italian insisted that his main focus is on getting his players minutes ahead of the new season.
Despite the presence of several first-team players in the friendly Clasico, Los Blancos did not put in the expected performance, yet Ancelotti appeared very calm in his post-match interview.
“The goal of the pre-season is to get the players ready for the new season,” Ancelotti said in comments carried by Mundo Deportivo. “These matches are just to give the players minutes.”
He continued, “Losing to Barcelona and before that losing to Milan? We won’t go crazy because of that, they are friendly matches, the results don’t matter much in such encounters.”
He concluded, “We will continue our preparation plan and the players will gradually return, we will take the positives from the friendly matches and we will give the players a chance to play.”
Real Madrid will play Chelsea on August 7 in their final friendly match before returning to Spain to prepare for their first official match of the new season against Atalanta in the European Super Cup, scheduled for the 14th.
