Ancelotti: “I don’t know about my future, and I don’t want to know”

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media after their 2-1 loss to Arsenal in the Champions League. He was asked about his future, to which he said: “We’ve had a very good run. (My future) I don’t know. And I don’t want to know. I can’t speak to you about this now. If the club decides to change, no problem, I’ll thank them.”

Ancelotti about the game

“It’s disappointing to be eliminated from the Champions League, it’s quite normal to think that. It’s the other side of football. We’ve been through the happy part many times, today it’s time for the other, and we have to deal with it. There are three more competitions, and we have to focus on them. We have to accept it; in both games, Arsenal have been better than us. We tried; there was a moment with that penalty they disallowed that could have changed the tie. But Arsenal defended very well; we couldn’t find any space. We showed intensity, but it wasn’t enough.

If you give up, it means you haven’t handled this sad moment well. I have to focus the team, we have to be protagonists, there are important matches left. I’m not afraid of the team’s response; they have to keep their heads high, I’ve told them that. They have to keep fighting and learning for the next match.”

Ancelotti on what went wrong

“Making an analysis today isn’t right; we have to accept this tie and the blows that come our way. What I told the players is that we have to keep our heads high; we’ve done very well in this tournament in other years. This year wasn’t the case; in sports, this can happen; there are no invincible teams. Attitude-wise, the team gave everything it could. We weren’t always able to do better than the other team.”

Ancelotti on the league

“Now we’re fighting for the league title. We’re at a disadvantage, but we have the game against Barça. And the Copa del Rey final and the Club World Cup, in an endless season. We have to pick ourselves up. With our heads held high, we can learn from our mistakes.”

Ancelotti on Dani Ceballos

“Ceballos wasn’t 100% fit, which is why he didn’t start.”

Ancelotti on whether he would change anything

“No.”

Ancelotti on Arsenal

“We have to be honest, Arsenal deserved it in both games. They deserved it. Football has two sides: happy and sad. And this is the sad side. You have to know how to handle it. This happens. It happens to us less than to others, but we must know how to handle it to be better in the next games.”

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