The journey to start difficulties and how to solve them
Since the beginning of the season, in La Liga alone, Real Madrid have been defeated exactly once on the journey to lift the silver cup. Looking at that achievement, things seemed very simple, but no!
Currently, Real Madrid have defeated Barcelona in all 3 El Clasicos since the beginning of the season (including the Supercopa final). They just need to beat Bayern at home in the second leg of the semi-final next week to get a ticket to the Champions League final. Next summer, Kylian Mbappe and possibly even Endrick will wear the Royal white shirt together. However, 12 months ago, things were not as smooth.
That was when Carlo Ancelotti himself was under pressure in the hot seat at the Bernabeu when he and his students were crushed by Man City in the Champions League last season. Not only that, the 2023-2024 season of the white team also started in a state of anxiety because the storm of injuries had swept through early. Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao both suffered ACL injuries (later David Alaba).
During the crisis at the beginning of the season, two rays of light have appeared to help Ancelotti find a way out, goalkeeper Andriy Lunin and veteran Nacho. In addition, Aurelien's willingness to accept and play well in the center-back position has helped the Italian coach breathe a sigh of relief. With Antonio Rudiger injured, Tchouameni and Dani Carvajal are ready to play centre-back. When assigned tasks on the two wings, Lucas Vazquez and Ferland Mendy caught up quickly, thereby completing very well.
The flexibility of personnel and squad depth are two factors that helped Ancelotti get through the thunderstorms at the beginning of the season, creating the premise for the next stage to break through.
In September 2023, Real Madrid had a short crisis after a 1-3 loss to Atletico Madrid. Immediately after that, Ancelotti changed the playing style, he let Jude Bellingham play the highest position in midfield but will drift left a lot to support the defense. Meanwhile, Federico Valverde will drift more to the right to do the same job as Bellingham.
This way of playing has shown good results. Until the early championship, Real Madrid had only conceded 22 goals in 34 games (0.65 goals/match). They are on their way to breaking the record for conceding the fewest goals in a season (25-goal in 2019-2020). Los Blancos are in a good position with 28 games since their defeat to Atletico, and they have not been left empty-handed.
Carlo Ancelotti and a clear strategy
Although Jude Bellingham had an impressive start as a rookie. However, it cannot be denied that Carlo Ancelotti's strategy and perseverance are the sharpest weapons to help Los Blancos fight this season.
Back to the time after the 0-4 loss to Man City in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals, Ancelotti was very close to the Brazilian national team when many famous news agencies such as ESPN also confirmed that he had a good fate with the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF). CBF President Ednaldo Rodrigues himself said an agreement had been signed between the two sides. Not only that, Carletto's Brazilian students at the club such as Rodrygo, Militao and Vinicius Junior also supported him to wear the Selecao yellow and blue shirt.
With the CBF determined like that, Ancelotti's future is in question, especially after the loss to Atletico. Even after beating Barcelona 2-1 at El Clasico, the veteran strategist has been questioned about his future in Madrid. However, in the end, Ancelotti said he always gave priority to staying at the Bernabeu.
As for President Florentino Perez, he is never used to dragging someone. Since the news of Ancelotti's destination with CBF, "Bo Gia" has found other candidates, Xabi Alonso is one of them. However, when Carletto insists he wants to stay, the two sides reached an agreement to extend his contract in December 2023, until the summer of 2026.
