“I have a contract until June 2024 and the club has already
guaranteed I will see out my contract. Everyone knows that’s exactly what I
want to do,” Ancelotti said on Saturday in his first news conference since he
spoke immediately after Manchester City routed his Madrid 4-0 this week to
reach the final 5-1 on aggregate.
That stinging defeat fueled speculation that perhaps
Ancelotti’s second stint at Madrid was near its end. Madrid has won the Copa
del Rey, the Club World Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup this season, but it lost
the Spanish league title to Barcelona and failed to defend its Champions League
crown.
Meanwhile, Brazil is apparently ready to embrace the
63-year-old Ancelotti, the only coach to have won four European Cups after
winning it twice with AC Milan and Madrid.
Ancelotti’s contract with Madrid lasts until the end of next
season but speculation about his potential departure increased after Brazil
said it was interested in hiring him to replace Tite. Brazil has been without a
manager since the end of the World Cup, and the Brazilian Football
Confederation hinted it was willing to wait until the end of the European
season to hire its next coach.
Madrid president Florentino Pérez also has no trouble firing
coaches who don’t reach the 14-time European champion’s incredibly demanding
standard for success. Pérez cut Ancelotti’s first stint short in 2015, just a
year after he led Madrid to Champions League title No. 10.
Ancelotti said on Friday he has received renewed backing
from Pérez.
“We spoke yesterday, as we do most weeks. We had a meeting,
assessed the match and he showed me his affection and support,” the coach said.
“We also spoke about the last couple of seasons and we will continue moving
forward with the same or greater hunger to do a good job.”
Ancelotti admitted the lopsided loss to City left its mark
on a team that in the previous season proven unbeatable after pulling off
comebacks in the Champions League knockout rounds.
“It is a painful elimination, but it’s a semifinal, it
wasn’t in the group stages or the round of 16,” he said. “We’re hurting but you
can always come up against a team in better shape who deserve to win. We
congratulate Manchester City because those are the values of this club. Now we
have to look forward and at the next Champions League campaign.”
Regardless of his coach, Pérez and his club have some big
decisions to make about some players who have been critical to the team for the
past decade.
Karim Benzema, Luka Modric — both Ballon d’Or winners —
along with Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio all finish their contracts at the end
of June.
Ancelotti could say only that the club and his veterans were
talking about their futures. He seemed to indicate the players have received
offers for new deals from the club.
“They are being dealt with seriously and professionally,” he
said. “There are talks ongoing with the club, they will make the decisions they
see fit. It’s in the players’ court right now and everything will be cleared up
at the end of the season.”
Ancelotti spoke in the capital a day ahead of Madrid’s game
at Valencia. Madrid is playing for a second-place finish behind champion
Barcelona. -AP