Ancelotti: “When people are not doing well, soccer has to stop”

Carlo Ancelotti faced at Valdebebas the most unusual press conference of his career at Real Madrid, in which he began by taking the floor to say that he did not want to talk about soccer but to express his sadness for what happened in Valencia. His message was very clear: soccer should not have been played this past weekend. There was not a single question about the Madrid-AC Milan match at the Bernabéu in the fourth round of the Champions League, the two teams that have won the most European Cups and the two that the Italian coach carries in his heart.

Ancelotti wanted to speak before being asked: “It's been a week since this tragedy and we are sad. We are very close to all the people who have been affected. Hopefully this can be resolved soon. I hope you can understand, but talking about football now is very complicated. We are part of this country and all of this affects us a lot. Out of respect for you and also to not disrespect the people, I will try to keep it simple because I don't feel like talking about soccer. Tomorrow's match is very special to me, but I will try to talk as little as possible.”

The match

“We have prepared them because we are professionals”

For the Real Madrid coach, “what has happened has been something terrible. We have prepared the match against Milan because we are professionals and we will try to win it obviously. This is what we have to do.”

Ancelotti insisted that the last League match should not have been played: “Everyone has been clear. Nobody wanted to play. It seemed like the right decision to me. But we are not the ones in charge. Those above make that decision,” he stated.

The management of tragedy

No political opinions

Several of the questions were meant to prompt Ancelotti to take a stance on how aid to the victims had been managed, but the Real Madrid coach refused to make political assessments: “I cannot comment on how this tragedy has been handled. I must do my utmost to try to help and that's it.” Later, he remarked: “The frustration of the affected individuals is normal. I am not here to evaluate what politics has done this week. I do not have the resources to do this. It is difficult to think of something like this in 2024, with all the information we have. You can pinpoint the exact hour when it starts raining... And you cannot fix this kind of tragedy. Politics is very complicated in all countries. To judge what fault politics has? I don't know. I do see the frustration of people who have lost everything.”

Near the end of the press conference, Ancelotti was asked about Vinícius' emotional state after not winning the Ballon d'Or: “This has been a difficult week because it's not the usual atmosphere. But not because of what happened with the Ballon d'Or. It happened and that's it. We have to congratulate the winners. The sadness is not about that, but about what's happening here in Spain. Vinícius is in a normal state. He is aware of what's going on. Fortunately, we didn't play on Saturday and Vinícius has trained well, like everyone else,” he reiterated. The club's directive now is to stop talking about the Ballon d'Or and turn the page.

The Ballon d'Or

Congratulate the winners

To finish, Ancelotti recalled once again that the match shouldn't have been played over the weekend: “The power we have is equal to 0. We cannot make any decisions. All the coaches wanted to stop the match. Some played, others didn't. The decision-making power of the coach in these cases is equal to 0. There is a phrase, 'the show must go on,' but it shouldn't be like that.”

After the team's coach spoke, Lucas Vázquez, the third captain and undisputed starter after the injury of Dani Carvajal, addressed the audience. The message from the Galician player was very similar to that of his coach: “We feel very sad. These have been difficult, tumultuous days, where our people have suffered. It is a moment for all of us to reflect and think about what has happened. And to try to help each other to get through this.”

Vázquez sees the locker room affected: “Seeing a lot of people suffering affects us all. The coach is absolutely right. Our opinion is 0, our strength is 0. We have to be professionals and do what they tell us. That's what it is. It shouldn't have been played. It was time to be with those affected and only think about that. Political issues, it's not the time to talk about it here,” he stated.