Carlo Ancelotti says Xabi Alonso has “opened all the doors” for his move to the big club. The former Real Madrid midfielder will replace Italian coaches at the helm of the Spanish power.
Ancelotti held a pre-match press conference on Saturday, the day after Alonso announced he was leaving Bayer Lebaxen.
He praised Alonso’s work, which is widely tied to the final move to Madrid after leading the German club to last season’s Bundesliga title.
“I read that Xabi is leaving Bayer Lebakusen and did an amazing job there,” Ancelotti said before Sunday’s trip to Barcelona. “He has shown he is one of the best coaches in the world, so he has opened all his doors.”
Ancelotti once again refused to talk about his future, especially before Lariga’s decisive Classico. Madrid Trail Barcelona will only have four points to win this campaign to keep the chance to win the trophy.
But he spoke inspiringly about what Madrid means and what it means to the most successful manager of European football.
For Ancelotti, his relationship with the club is an eternal “honeymoon” of six seasons in two stints.
“My honeymoon with this club is not over. It will last forever,” he said. “Like Milan before, Real Madrid is a team I’m with, considering the time I spent here. There’s passion at first, and when it fades, other emotions appear and there’s a gentle sense of care.
The 65-year-old coach has signed a contract through his next campaign, but despite adding Killian Mbappe to the team, it is widely expected that he will leave after an overwhelming season in which the team played worse.
Brazil has been courting Ancelotti for over a year, but meetings with the veteran manager appear to be still ongoing.
Real Madrid must play the “complete” game in Barcelona
With only four games left in the Lariga season, only a victory that realistically maintains the real hope of maintaining the title will need to get everything right for Ancelotti to have a chance on Sunday.
“In this type of game you have to do well. Barcelona is used to keeping their opponents in their area, but there’s no perfect team,” he said.
“It’s a game that’s on in a lot of crisis, and in order to win, you have to manage everything well, defend well, attack well. We need to play the full game.”
Ancelotti has little trouble firing his players as they have been at a great crisis against their great rivals.
“It’s not difficult to motivate players as it’s the type of match where players are already motivated and come out with a lot of confidence,” he said.
“Playing with Barcelona is special. Barca isn’t in the Club World Cup, so it will be the final “El Clasico” of the season. ”
#Who is scoring at elclásico? pic.twitter.com/tgx1x8cvua
– Laliga English (@laligaen) May 8, 2025
Barcelona focused despite the Champions League tragedy
Barcelona players are ready to discuss the elimination of the Champions League last week and put a disappointment behind them against rival Real Madrid, manager Hansi Frick said at his press conference on Saturday.
Barca suffered a 4-3 Champions League semi-final loss to Inter Milan on Tuesday.
Sunday’s home victory will win one win over the flick’s side from the 28th Spanish League title.
“We’re doing well. After the defeat in Milan, everyone knows that it’s not easy… But we’re doing things right. We’ve talked about what we want to do in the last two weeks,” Flick told reporters.
“There are four more games. El Clasico is important. We have to show how well we play. We have to show confidence. The players are doing very well… We’ve been talking about what they’re thinking, what they’re feeling.
“We had to talk about it as a group. We know that everyone has to give 100% in the Classico. You have to be active, fierce and dominant. Real Madrid is a very good team and you need fans.”
El Clasico – Dropping
Translated as the English “Classic”, El Clasico is the name given to a soccer match between rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Special matchups of these aspects of football emerged from a pre-century political and historical aspect between Catalonia’s representative FC Barcelona, against the centralized power structure of Spanish capital, Madrid, and the central power structure of its most famous football club, Real Madrid, with the increasingly clear Catalan national identity representing Catalonia.
The first match between the two Spanish mega clubs took place on May 13, 1902.
A total of 260 matches were played. Real Madrid won 105 wins on Barcelona’s 103, leading in a direct result with 52 draws.
The final five lariga matches
Barcelona: wwwwd (latest fixture first)
May 3, 2025 – Real Balladrid 1-2 Barcelona
April 22, 2025 – Barcelona 1-0 Malorca
April 19, 2025 – Barcelona 4-3 Celta Vigo
April 12, 2025 – Leganes 0-1 Barcelona
April 5, 2025 – Barcelona 1-1 Real Betis
Real Madrid: wwl (latest fixture first)
May 4, 2025 – Real Madrid 3-2 Celtabigo
April 23, 2025 – Getafe 0-1 Real Madrid
April 20, 2025 – Real Madrid 1-0 Athletic Club
April 13, 2025 – Alleves 0-1 Real Madrid
April 5, 2025 – Real Madrid 1-2 Valencia
