Carlo Ancelotti underlines Barcelona’s improvement with Xavi: “It’s a complete team”

There is less and less left for the start of the classic Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, ​​scheduled for this Sunday, March 20 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, from 3:00 pm (Peruvian time). On the eve of yet another edition of the traditional Spanish game, the merengue coach, Carlo Ancelotti, highlighted the work of his colleague Xavi Hernández at the helm of the Catalans.

“Barcelona’s identity never changes, its style of play is very clear. Xavi embodies this style very well, he is doing very well, the team has improved a lot and is in a good dynamic. It is a complete team that plays very well. My opinion is that he is doing very well”said the Italian at a press conference.

On the other hand, Ancelotti tried to downplay Karim Benzema’s absence from the classic. The DT assured that he did not “worries” the low of the French because “It will be at the end of the season being very important” for the team in the fight for LaLiga and the Champions League.

“Karim and Mendy can’t play tomorrow and they stay here next week to work with us”Ancelotti confirmed. “Karim is 34 years old and sometimes it can happen, very small annoyances from which he recovers very quickly and when he came back he made a difference. We have two weeks to work with him and when he comes back he will make the difference as before. I am not worried that he will not play tomorrow because I will be at the end of the season being very important ”, he added.

The Madrid coach assured that he has not risked the physicality of his players at any time, neither with Benzema in Paris or with Toni Kroos in the second leg of the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain.

“We’re not going to take risks, we’ve never taken risks, we didn’t do it in the Paris match either because Karim could play, but tomorrow he can’t because he hasn’t trained. He still feels a bit of discomfort. It is a small injury but he does not allow him to train or play ”he explained.

“We can do well without Benzema, who is obviously a very important part of this team, he finishes everyone’s work very well. Without him we have to keep up the same work and look for different solutions in attack”he stated before admitting that he has decided on the substitute but that he will not reveal it until an hour before the game.

The Real Madrid coach ruled out that the small muscle injuries that Benzema has suffered this season are the result of the load of games or caused by his return to the French team.

With information from EFE.