Carlo Ancelotti has refused to surrender the La Liga title to Barcelona just yet in the wake of Real Madrid’s 3-2 victory over Sevilla.
Los Blancos closed the gap on Barca at the top of the table back to two points thanks to their win at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Saturday, and the Coach insisted after the game that “hope is the last thing that dies”.
“Barcelona are a great team and were very clinical in attack [referring to their 8-0 win at Cordoba],” he told reporters.
“I’m not surprised that they scored that many goals, but like I said when we won 9-1 at Granada, it’s better to win nine games 1-0 than win one game by a nine-goal margin.
“[On accusations Sevilla put out a weakened team], I don’t think [Unai] Emery gave us a gift.
“They’re a team who played well, with fight and intensity, but it wasn’t a gift from their Coach. He put out a very strong team.
“We hope to have [Karim Benzema] back within the next two days.
“[Gareth] Bale had no problems [on Saturday], so one key player has recovered at the very least. Hopefully, Karim will also recover.
“Hope is the last thing that dies. We have to do what concerns us, which is to win our last three [League] games.
“I’m not saying that he’s used to playing in this position [referring to Sergio Ramos in central midfield], but he has so much character that he can play anywhere on the pitch. He does it for the team.”
