Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti believes his side have a better chance of retaining their Champions League trophy than beating Barcelona to the Spanish La Liga title.
Earlier today, Barcelona opened up a five-point lead over Real Madrid on the league table with their 2-0 derby win over Espanyol.
With six games remaining, Madrid are faced with the task of overturning that five-point league deficit while navigating tricky fixtures against Celta Vigo (away), Sevilla (away) and Valencia (home) over the next two weeks.
Sandwiched between the Sevilla and Valencia matches will be their two-legged Champions League semi-final against Italian champions, Juventus, who Ancelotti who coached Juventus between 1999 and 2001.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s match against Celta Vigo, manager Carlo Ancelotti was reluctant to concede the league title to Barcelona. However, the Italian boss made it clear his team has a better chance of lifting their eleventh European Cup at the end of the season, than it does at wrestling the domestic title from their El Clasico rivals.
“I think that winning La Liga is more complicated than winning the Champions League,” Ancelotti said. “In the Champions League we’re at the same level, while in La Liga we are behind on points.”
“The team is good, winning and going through to the semi-finals was very important to us. Because of that game we’re getting our energy back to face up to the league with a lot of enthusiasm.”
Unsaid by Ancelotti is that he probably needs to win the Champions League or league if he is to avoid being fired by Real Madrid this summer. Such is the pressure of being a Real Madrid manager.
