Calm and composed Ancelotti urges patience
Carlo Ancelotti's future at Real Madrid is in doubt after a string of poor results, but the Italian is staying calm under pressure.
Ancelotti's position as head coach at Los Blancos has been called into question after their 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.
That defeat came after a 2-1 loss to Valencia in LaLiga, in which they trail leader Barcelona by seven points after the Blaugrana's latest victory in the league, albeit a narrow 1-0 win at Leganes.
Madrid has lost three of its past nine LaLiga matches, winning four, suffering the same number of defeats as in its previous 62 league games beforehand, of which it won 46.
Ancelotti's contract at Madrid runs through to the end of next season, and ahead of facing Alaves on Monday (AEST), the Italian urged patience.
"I shouldn’t talk about things about my future, because the contract is quite clear. Whatever it is, it will be talked about at the end of the season," Ancelotti said.
"The club always supports me, especially in difficult moments."
With a three-goal deficit to overturn at home against Arsenal on Thursday (AEST), Ancelotti believes his side can mount a comeback.
"Every defeat is always the same. When you lose, it’s a difficult time. You have to think about how to bounce back. Concentrate. But, fortunately, football is like that.
"After a defeat, there comes an opportunity," he said.
"We’ll try, we’ll try. The truth is that Real Madrid is the only one that has done it many times. We will try until the last minute. Until the last action. Starting tomorrow.
"Against Arsenal [in the first leg] we did less in all aspects, total distance, sprint numbers, everything. They worked harder."
But Ancelotti is keen not to take anything for granted against struggling Alaves.
"Everyone is thinking about Wednesday [Thursday AEST], but everything depends on Sunday's [Monday's AEST] performance," he said.
"Because we are still in the fight for the league. We need to play well and win. It’s fundamental to recover the good feelings."
Ancelotti has won all five of his matches against Alaves in LaLiga, so anything less than another victory would be seen as a massive upset and could finish Madrid's hopes of defending the league title it claimed last season.
