Ancelotti: ‘Leave the BBC out!’

Carlo Ancelotti jokes he’d prefer it if Real Madrid benched Cristiano Ronaldo and dropped Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale against Bayern Munich.

Ancelotti worked with all three of Madrid’s front line during his time at Santiago Bernabeu but now he is in charge of Los Blancos’ Champions League opponents Munich, he hopes Zinedine Zidane leaves them out.

“Do I want the BBC to play? Of course not. I’d like to start with Cristiano on the bench, Benzema in the stands and Bale watching at home,” the Italian told a Press conference, AS reports.

“I’ve seen a lot of matches, I know the BBC well. It looks to me like Madrid will win LaLiga, and they are doing well with and without them. I think it’s fortunate for a team to have Bale, Benzema and Cristiano and it’s not a problem. I think [Zinedine Zidane] thinks the same thing.”

Zidane was Ancelotti’s assistant for part of the Italian’s time at Madrid and Zidane spoke highly of his mentor, with Ancelotti returning the compliment but insisting Zidane hasn’t confided in him regarding his future.

“I have a lot of affection for him, of course. I’m very happy for what he is doing. He’s doing very well and Coaches don’t have time to think about the future much, because the future is the next game. It’s the same for all of us. He hasn’t told me anything about his future,” Ancelotti continued.

“I think the idea [of Zidane’s Madrid compared to his] is the same. To take control and use all the ideas the squad has. They have a lot of quality and can create problems.

“If you have an assistant like Zidane, who was fantastic, he can help during the match and in the locker room. In my time in Madrid he was a very good assistant and had an excellent relationship with the players. And I counted on that a little bit.”

Tags Bayern Munich Carlo Ancelotti Cristiano Ronaldo Gareth Bale Karim Benzema
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