Ancelotti ‘not losing sleep’ over improved Barca ahead of Clasico

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said La Liga leaders Barcelona’s revival is not keeping him up at night ahead of Saturday’s Clasico.

Hansi Flick’s Barca visit the Santiago Bernabeu sitting three points ahead of the second-place Spanish champions and thrashed German giants Bayern Munich 5-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday.

However Real Madrid are unbeaten in 42 La Liga matches and can match Barcelona’s all-time record of 43 if they avoid defeat.

“The truth is they are doing very well,” admitted Ancelotti at a news conference Friday.

“In a game like the Clasico, a derby, it’s hard to pick a favourite.

“Luckily nobody is taking any sleep away from me at the moment.”

Barcelona struggled last season and Madrid beat them in both La Liga Clasicos.

Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham scored three times in those two games during a fantastic campaign, but this season has not found the net in his first 10 appearances across all competitions.

Ancelotti said he was happy with Bellingham’s performances and that the onus was now on superstar striker Kylian Mbappe to lead the scoring charts for Los Blancos.

Bellingham, playing up front at the start of last season after Karim Benzema’s departure, scored 10 goals in his first 10 Madrid matches.

“Last year we had no striker, we lost an important striker like Karim, we replaced him with the goals of Bellingham, Joselu and Brahim (Diaz),” continued Ancelotti.

“This year we don’t have a problem, because we have a striker that can score 30, 35, 40 goals.

“The important thing is (Bellingham) does his work, which is very important.”

Mbappe, who arrived from Paris Saint-Germain this summer, is preparing for his first Clasico and Ancelotti said the striker was relaxed.

The forward is engaged in a battle with former club PSG over 55 million euros ($59.5 million) in allegedly unpaid salary and was recently criticised in France after not playing in Nations League matches for his country.

Reports emerged in Sweden he is being investigated for an alleged rape during a visit to Stockholm earlier in October, which Mbappe described as “fake news”.

“His way of managing, preparing for games, is a very calm and simple way,” said Ancelotti.

“He’s played Barca many times, he knows what he has got to do.”

– ‘Big belief’ –
Barca coach Flick, also taking part in his first Clasico, hailed his team ahead of their biggest test of the campaign.

The German coach said he would adapt his set-up, including an aggressive high-line defence, but not drastically, for the visit to the capital.

“We have our ideas, and I said also after the match against Bayern that we have to improve a little bit… every match we play, we adapt for the next match, and it’s also the same against Real,” explained Flick.

“They also have players who are very fast, we know that we play against Real Madrid, a team with world-class players.

“But in the end, I trust (my players), I have a big belief in my team.”

Flick said he was grateful for the praise he has received after a superb start in Catalonia, but is not taking it too seriously.

“It’s nice, it’s kind, but in the end, I know my job and I know that everything is about the result,” he said.

“So when we win, it’s good. When we do not win, it’s not so good…

“We have to focus on our performance and on our ideas and our passion, how we want to play tomorrow.”