Xavi anticipates ‘footballing war’ against Ancelotti’s charges
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez warned his team that their Copa del Rey semi-final opponents Real Madrid would be coming to wage a "footballing war" at Camp Nou, while Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said his charges will try to keep cool heads as they bid to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the Copa del Rey Clasico semi-final second leg.
The Spanish champions lock horns with arch-rivals Barcelona at 1:00 am on Thursday (Bangladesh Standard Time) as they bid to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat in the derby.
"It doesn't mean anything that we have won the last three Clasicos, tomorrow is another footballing war," Xavi told reporters.
"They will be out for revenge … they will come here wounded, I'm sure," added the Catalan coach.
Barcelona will be without four injured key players in Pedri, Ousmane Dembele, Frenkie de Jong and Andreas Christensen.
"They have a lot of experience, they are used to mounting comebacks. They are still favourites for me," said Xavi.
Despite Eder Militao's own goal handing Barcelona a narrow victory at the Santiago Bernabeu, Ancelotti's side dominated the Catalans.
"The idea is not to go crazy to try and score a goal," said Madrid coach Ancelotti.
"We won't go mad, because you can score a goal in the fifth minute and then let in two."
Real Madrid have lost three consecutive Clasicos, defeated by Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final in January, the cup first leg and most recently 2-1 in La Liga at Camp Nou.
The Italian coach thought his team played well in the latter two games and confirmed defender Antonio Rudiger is fit, meaning Madrid have their full squad available aside from Ferland Mendy.
Ancelotti admitted it was difficult to choose between his midfielders, with Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga all vying to start.
"It's very hard to choose a side, because obviously there are more than 11 who deserve to play, there are 14 or 15," said Ancelotti.
Comments