The Italian coach has complete confidence in his team, but he has carefully selected the lineup he has chosen, and it may only vary depending on the system used to face the matches.
Real Madrid is preparing for several important and decisive matches after the current international break, most notably the Clasico match in La Liga and the match against Dortmund in the Champions League.
According to information received from the newspaper El Nacional, Andriy Lunin was the starting goalkeeper in the last two matches and performed well overall.
Although he did not stop a penalty kick in the Champions League match, he made several outstanding saves, and his performance against Villarreal was excellent, both in dealing with aerial balls and in his movement.
The newspaper added that Thibaut Courtois has increased the intensity of his training and will be ready to play after the international break, so Ancelotti has no doubt that the Belgian goalkeeper will start against Barcelona in the match scheduled for October 26.
The newspaper also mentioned that Ancelotti informed the Ukrainian goalkeeper that he will not start the Clasico and will return to the bench again after Courtois recovers from his injury.
Lunin will continue to play his supporting role, which he performs very well, and he will hope to play more games throughout the season, given the length of the season and the number of competitions.
This is what the Ukrainian goalkeeper is doing: preparing for the present, and his contract renewal until June 30, 2030, shows that he is a long-term investment for the Merengue club.
He hopes to become a starter when Thibaut Courtois leaves Real Madrid. The Belgian’s contract expires in 2026, when he will be 34 years old.
It remains to be seen whether Real Madrid will offer him an extension at that time or if they will prefer to rely on Lunin and another goalkeeper.