 |
| Carlo Ancelotti Real Madrid Manager |
The future of Real
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is shrouded in doubt as he takes his side to
Espanyol for the penultimate game of their La Liga season.
A four-point gap between
Real and leaders Barcelona means Ancelotti's men require victories
from their final two Liga matches and for Luis Enrique's side to fail to
win their remaining fixtures to clinch the title.
Four points from their
last two games would be enough for Real should Barca lose to both Atletico
Madrid and Deportivo La Coruna, but given that the Catalan giants have
been defeated just four times in the league in the whole of 2014-15 and have
won 11 of their last 12 Liga outings, the task facing Real is bordering on
the impossible.
Regardless of how Barca
fare at Atletico on Sunday, Ancelotti will be keen to bounce back from the
midweek UEFA Champions League semi-final exit to Juventus and quieten the
fierce speculation over his position.
The headlines following
Real's 3-2 aggregate defeat spoke of a crisis at the Santiago
Bernabeu and much is being made of Ancelotti's failure to win La Liga
during his tenure, although he did deliver Champions League glory last
season.
Real are hoping to
avoid a fourth consecutive winless game and the Italian coach has the
backing of his players.
Defender Sergio Ramos
told Marca: "It's not up to us if Ancelotti stays, although no one has
spoken more highly of our manager than I have. But it isn't up to me."
He added: "The
stats back him up. Other people have to weigh things up and draw conclusions.
"If Real Madrid
ruled Europe, part of the reason was Ancelotti."
Ramos faces a fitness
test to determine whether he will feature at Espanyol, having allegedly
played the entire second leg against Juventus with a tear in his calf
muscle.
Should Ramos miss out,
Pepe could return to the starting line-up alongside Raphael Varane, but
Ancelotti is unlikely to make any other changes to the team that lost to
Juventus.
Toni Kroos and Isco
are expected to continue in midfield in the absence of the injured Luka Modric
and Sami Khedira, and Gareth Bale should keep his place despite being the
target of criticism after both legs of the Juventus defeat.
Espanyol will be keen to
continue the good form that has seen them lose only one of their last 10 games.
After a convincing 2-0
win over Eibar in their last outing, Sergio Gonzalez's side will be
keen to leapfrog Athletic Bilbao and Malaga into seventh and make a vast
improvement on their 14th-placed finish in La Liga in 2013-14.
Source:sport operamini
No comments:
Post a Comment