Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is thinking about surprising Pep Guardiola, his counterpart in Manchester City, during the two teams’ confrontation today, at Etihad Stadium, in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
The first leg, which was held last week at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, ended in a draw (3-3).
According to the Spanish “Relevo” network, Ancelotti is studying applying high pressure from the front, as he did in the first leg, and believes that his team played a good match at the Santiago Bernabeu, and deserved a better result, even though some details were not in the Royal team’s favour.
She added: “However, Ancelotti believes that the forward pressure that was applied during most of the match did not succeed completely, due to the lack of coordination between Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior, and they ended up running too much and becoming exhausted even before the break.”
She continued: “At the same time, Ancelotti fears that the high pressure will provide free spaces for Guardiola’s squad, which creates some risks for him, so he is thinking about protecting himself in the first minutes.”
She explained: “In the first leg, Vinicius and Bellingham put pressure on City’s two centre-backs, and they also tried to prevent goalkeeper Ortega from playing comfortably, and they were helped in this by midfielders Fede Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga, by providing a wonderful physical effort.”
She noted: “The plan seemed to be going well until the end of the first half, when fatigue began to take its toll, as Guardiola’s men controlled the ball and easily overcame Real Madrid’s high pressure, and the pressure of Vinicius, Bellingham, and Rodrigo became less harmful.”
The network concluded that Perez warned Ancelotti not to fall into the trap of defeat against City, especially with a big result, as happened last season, otherwise he will be exposed to possible dismissal at the end of the season and a new coach will be hired.
Perez assured Ancelotti of Real Madrid’s ability to overcome City, and if the opposite happened, he wants to see the team play in a style and style of play befitting the history of Real Madrid, as Ancelotti’s position would be in danger if he lost to Manchester City today.