Carlo Ancelotti claims he has the immediate backing of President Florentino Perez ahead of Real Madrid’s trip to Espanyol in La Liga on Sunday.
The Coach’s future at the Santiago Bernabeu was thrown into serious doubt after Los Blancos were eliminated from the Champions League semi-finals by Juventus on Wednesday, but he says the patron ”has given us all encouragement” for the final two weeks of the League calendar.
Perez’s optimism stems from the slight chance that Madrid can still win their first La Liga since 2012 if they win their remaining matches and Barcelona do not as a result of their Clasico superiority this season.
“We know [Espanyol’s] an important game, we have to react after Wednesday,” he said at a Press conference.
“I know it won’t be easy, but the team have trained well these last couple of days and we’re focused on [Sunday’s] game.
“We’ll give everything in these next two games to keep fighting for the League until it’s mathematically impossible.
“I’m proud of my players, they gave everything. We’ll do our final evaluation [of the campaign] at the end of season.
“We’re still fighting for the League. We’re aiming to win these [next] two games and then discuss our future plans.
“I’m aware that there’s a lot interest in this subject [his future], but we can still win the League in our next two games.
“We don’t want to talk about the future out of respect for each other. We have to struggle and fight in these two games.
“There will be time [after the two games] to discuss Real Madrid’s future.
“Both teams are fighting for something. Espanyol also [need a win] because they’re in an important position in the table. It’ll be an intense, difficult and complicated game.
“[On whether he was happy that Madrid had spoken to other Coaches], what bothers me is if we don’t have a good game [on Sunday] and the team doesn’t fight.
“I’m disappointed [about losing out to Juventus] because I think the team deserved to play another final.
“However, we have to respect what happened on the pitch [on Wednesday] and the fact that another team will play in the final, [even if] we’ve had some bad injuries this season.
“[President Florentino Perez] has given us all encouragement. We know that we have to get it right in our next two games, and I’m sure we will.
“Two years ago, we began working together and my relationship with the players has been very close ever since. My trust for these players is so great and it’ll remain that way.
“[On possible interest in Danilo’s Porto teammate Alex Sandro], we’re not talking about any any signings [today]. We’ll have time to talk about signings for next season [at a later date].
“[Bale] had a good performance [against Juventus]. He’s had good times when the team were on a good run and more difficult ones when the team were on a losing streak eve.
“He’s had some minor problems, but he’s become more accustomed to playing with the team.
“The objective of the Castilla [team] is to improve our young players, so [Zinedine Zidane] has done a great job in this respect.
“The squad’s very competitive. New players have arrived with very good potential.
“Lucas [Silva] represents our future. He’s had a few problems adapting, but so did some of the best players in history.”
