Real Madrid will hope to get back of track in La Liga when they travel to face Athletic Club in Bilbao on Sunday evening. Having lost their last two weekend matches, head coach Carlo Ancelotti will hope that streak doesn’t extend into a third week.
Real Madrid looked to be heading out of the Copa del Rey after a disastrous first half time performance against Villarreal on Thursday. However, an inspired comeback saw Los Blancos score three unanswered goals in the second half to secure their place in the quarterfinals of the competition.
After the match, Ancelotti said that he felt that his side has turned a corner with their second half showing, despite their abject performance in the first period. Speaking in this pre-match press conference for the match against Athletic Club on Sunday, the Italian has explained that lessons will be learned from Thursday’s match.
“We have taken into account everything that happened against Villarreal. The reaction was very good, but we analysed the big mistakes of the first half.
“We have evaluated everything. You can not train, only recover and watch videos so that mistakes are not repeated.”
Aurelien Tchouameni missed Thursday’s game with an ankle injury, and angered fans when he was spotted at an NBA match in Paris during Real Madrid’s cup tie. The midfielder apologised for the incident, and Ancelotti has accepted that Tchouameni made a mistake.
“He has made his apology public. I think he was wrong. He’s a young guy who’s been wrong once. It’s over.”
Ancelotti revealed that he expects Tchouameni to be back in training next week, along with David Alaba and Dani Carvajal, who have also been missing with injuries.
“Carvajal, Tchouameni and Alaba can return next week, we are close to getting them back.”
