Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the press Real Madrid City, I wish everyone a Happy New Year before we talk about the opening game of 2025 real Madrid meets Valencia at Mestalla (Friday, 9:00 p.m. CET): “We’re starting with another challenge and we’re ready for it. It will be a difficult game against a team that has changed coaches and always makes things difficult for us. We want to start the year strong and this is an important game, a challenge. The team seems to be in good shape, the rest has been good for us because everyone is back, motivated and in good shape.”

“If you look at what we are likely to find on the pitch, it is a team that has changed its coach. When a new coach comes, the motivation of the players is always higher. We have to understand that Baraja did a brilliant job at Valencia on a personal level, but these things happen in football. A new coach has come with new ideas and we expect a challenging game with that in mind. I don’t know what the atmosphere will be like, but we have to concentrate on the game and nothing more.”

How did you prepare tactically for Valencia?
“I’ll tell you what we did. We’ve looked at how this coach set himself up when he was at West Brom, taking Valencia’s characteristics into account. As far as Baraja’s style of play goes, they as a team are pretty similar to what the new coach has in mind. We evaluated both elements.”

Poor run in the opening games of the year
“Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten the few games that didn’t go the way we would have liked. I think the motivation in the team looks good, they are focused, but I will remind them tomorrow that things didn’t go according to plan and hopefully that will give us an extra advantage.”

Challenges for 2025
“Compared to 2024, there is nothing new. We have to win games and after the negative phase in November, the team reacted very well and looks much better now, motivation is high and we have some injured players back with us. Alaba is training with us again… there is a good atmosphere on site and it will stay that way as long as we win games.”

Vini Jr.
“He’s great. He came back in good shape and made the most of his free time. He is fresh, motivated and happy about the awards he has won in the last few weeks. As always, he is prepared for the game and wants to make an impact tomorrow.

Peace of mind for individual players
“We’re thinking about how to do it. We now have a more complete team and there will be more rotation, especially in defense Alaba plays again. This is the position we struggled with the most. He will start training games from next week and I hope he will be back on the pitch around January 20th. This will really help.

Reinforcement in January
“We’ll see. We have a lot of games in January and that’s what we’re concentrating on. It’s not easy to talk about the transfer window at the moment. Now is not the best time to talk about it here. I’m happy with the squad I have at my disposal. We had some difficulties, but we were able to overcome them.”

Barcelona’s poor recent results
“Nobody expected that. The level of competition in in LaLiga means that the number of points required for victory is reduced. Atlético is also in the fight and that increases the uncertainty. I find LaLiga can be won with fewer than 90 points.”

“Both Barcelona and Atlético are rivals in the fight for LaLiga. Any team can suffer a dip in form, like we did in November, and responding to that makes you more competitive again. The three teams all have equal chances of winning LaLiga.”

Dani Olmo
“I don’t know much about it. All I can say is that we have to respect all clubs, institutions and the rules. I can’t answer this question because I don’t have the details.
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