Carlo Ancelotti is pleased the Real Madrid players consider the club to be a family and explained why he embraced Marcelo during the win over Schalke.
Marcelo scored Madrid’s second goal of the 2-0 win and in celebration ran to the Coach, who became the centre of a dog-pile of Madrid players.
Ancelotti had been jeered somewhat by a section of the Santiago Bernabeu crowd in Madrid’s prior game but denied the emotional reaction to Marcelo’s goal was a consequence of that.
“I made the decision to go onto the pitch and hug Marcelo because he scored a goal with his right foot,” Ancelotti revealed, AS reports.
“It was a gesture to celebrate with Marcelo and not to congratulate me. But the truth is the relationship is good.”
A number of Madrid players described the squad as akin to a family following the win in Germany, with Ancelotti the father, and while he was pleased by the sentiment he took issue with his role.
“I prefer being told I’m a brother to a parent because it means I’m younger,” he said, tongue-in-cheek.
“There is a good relationship between us. There’s a lot of respect for my work and from me to the players.”
Regarding the game against Elche, Ancelotti predicted a difficult encounter on what is his 100th in charge of Los Blancos.
“It will be a game of great intensity and rhythm,” he predicted.
“It’s true that in the last 15 days Elche have improved a lot, so the game will be difficult. We arrive at the end of a week in which we have done well and we want to continue like that.
“I feel very good here. I’ve found the club I expected from working here. These 100 games have gone very quickly and I have good memories of most of them.
“I turn 100 [on Sunday] and then it’s on to the next 100.”
