Carlo Ancelotti warned Real Madrid that they are being confronted with a fight to win back the first place in Laliga, with Buren Rayo Vallecano then for them on Sunday.
Madrid is currently third in the rankings with 54 points, three behind leaders Barcelona, who play on Saturday.
Los Blancos has lost two of their last five Lalala matches (W1 D2), just like many defeats as in their previous 53 games in the competition (W39 D12 L2).
As it looks now, Madrid is the least likely of the top three to win Liga according to the OPTA Supercomputer. They get a chance of 22.2% to keep their title compared to 54.4% for Leaders Barcelona and 23.4% for Atletico Madrid.
Despite Madrid's undefeated Run in the Copa del Rey and a six-match winning streak in the Champions League, the ruling Liga Champions' form is a concern for Ancelotti.
“We are ready to fight for every game and in every competition. I am much quieter for tomorrow's game because we had five days of rest,” he told reporters on Saturday.
“It will be harder at physical and mental level, but you have to take that into account. We are very close to a Copa del Rey-final, at the top of the table and to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
“It is not the ideal situation, because that would be to be the leader of Laliga, but we are ready to fight.”
Madrid dropped to a 2-1 defeat at Real Betis last weekend, which means that this season they admitted 25 goals after 26 games in Laliga, their worst count in this phase of the competition since 2018-19 (31-ended third).
Ancelotti gave a destructive assessment of the loss, but also praised his players for their efforts.
“I was disappointed about the game against Betis because I had not expected this fall in the form, but it was an isolated,” said Ancelotti.
“Players don't choose their games, but sometimes they are very tired and you can't be 100% in every game. It was a good dynamic, but we responded well. Hopefully we can go back to the good shape we had for Betis.”
Ancelotti said the midfielder Luka Modric will be available to play ” [on Sunday] And on Wednesday “in their Champions League referee in Atletico and the team had sufficient recovery time after Tuesday's 2-1 on Atleti.
Although Madrid will be fresh if they offer to close the gap at the top of Laliga, Rayo, who are seventh with 36 points, will be determined to make a winless run of three games in the competition.
“They are doing very well; they are a brave and well -organized team. They will demand a lot of us, and we have to be ready. The competition is of vital importance,” added Ancelotti.
Comments