Ancelotti jumps to Ronaldo’s defense
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REAL Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has leapt to the defense of World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo after criticism of his behavior toward his teammates in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Almeria.
Ronaldo failed to find the net for the third consecutive game in the routine win over the Andalusians and showed his frustration when Alvaro Arbeloa sneaked ahead of him to turn in Javier Hernandez’s cross for Real’s third.
Ronaldo kicked the ball into the net in anguish and jogged back to the halfway line rather than celebrating the goal, whilst selfish play at other times in the game was met with whistles and boos from a minority of the Bernabeu faithful.
“He has scored all those goals because he has character and he always wants to improve,” Ancelotti said yesterday.
“That is the reason he has scored so many goals for such a long time. I don’t understand people in the Bernabeu who boo Cristiano.”
Real now faces a season-defining four-game stretch in 10 days that will see it face Champions League-chasing Sevilla and Valencia in La Liga, as well as Ancelotti’s old side in Juventus in the semifinals of the Champions League.
However, Los Blancos should be boosted by the return of Gareth Bale for the visit to Sevilla today, while Karim Benzema could be fit to face the Italian champions in Turin on Tuesday.
“Bale has trained with the team. He is fine and I think he will be available for tomorrow,” Ancelotti said. “Benzema is doing individual work, we will see on Sunday or Monday if he can be with us.”
Despite missing Bale, Benzema and Luka Modric in recent weeks, Real has kept up its quest for success at home and on the continent with six consecutive wins in La Liga, allied to progress to the last four of the Champions League with a tense 1-0 aggregate win over Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals.
However, despite his indifferent form this season, Ancelotti insists that Bale can offer a different dimension to his side in the final month of the season.
“Bale will help us because he is fresher than others and at this stage of the season that could be very important.”
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