Ancelotti: “The team is more confident after winning the Décima”

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INTERVIEW | 09/08/2014

“Sevilla have changed a bit this year but, as with all finals, the European Super Cup will be very difficult”.

Carlo Ancelotti is about to embark on his second season at the helm of Real Madrid and he does so as a European champion. The chance to win six titles is of great motivation to the squad he coaches. On Tuesday (20:45) he could win the first, the European Super Cup. The manager analysed last season and the one that is about to get underway in an interview with the official UEFA press: “Sevilla have changed a bit this year but, as with all finals, the European Super Cup will be very difficult. The team ismore confident after winning the Décima”.

1. The Super Cup is the first match in Europe this year. How significant is the match in terms of finding out the standard that you can expect during the season?
   It is a very important match because it is the final of an international competition. It is special because it is the first official match after a World Cup that several of my players participated in. It will not be easy to prepare for, but we want to win it.
2. With Milan you won the Super Cup after the three Champions Leagues you won. What would it mean to you to do it again in Cardiff?
   That’s what we’re here for. When you play in a final you prepare to win it and give your all. As with all finals, it will be very difficult, although we may be favourites because we are Real Madrid.
3. What do you think of Sevilla?
   The team had a good season. It won the Europa League with a group of players who worked well as a team and they deserved to win the title. Sevilla has changed a bit this year. In some ways it is an unknown side at the moment because they have lost some important players and others have arrived. We’ll see what happens.
4. What are the challenges a manager has to face in a season that starts with a title like this at stake? Does this match change the way you prepare for the season?
   No. The season only changed because we had to give players who were at the World Cup holidays until the 5^th of August. So we have not had much time to prepare for the match. We will have to give our all in August to try and prepare the players as well as possible for the new season.
5. What are your thoughts on Real Madrid’s success last season, now that you have had time to reflect on it?
   We had a good season because we won the Copa del Rey and our most important objective, for Real Madrid to win the Champions League. As soon as we won it, we started to look forward to the season that is about to get underway and the trophies we aspire to. That is the philosophy of Real Madrid. There is always a desire to continue improving the club’s history.
6. Before the final you told us that the manager’s main jobbefore a match of this type is to make sure there is no pressure on the squad. How did you achieve that in Lisbon?
   The team was well prepared for the match, above all from a psychological point of view. There was the necessary and essential level of pressure to play the game. I was not particularly worried about anything on or off the pitch. The team never lost their heads, not even when we were down.
7. What impressed you most about your team in that match?
   The most important thing was that we maintained our faith in the victory until the last second, with great intensity and concentration. I think it was key to the victory. Morale was high at all times. There were no moments in which the intensity and concentration of the team dropped, even when we were losing.
8. Last season you won your third Champions League as a manager and your fifth in total. How special was that win?
   It was important for me, above all because that season we were determined to win the Décima. I wanted it and the club wanted it. Making history with the Décima is without a doubt the biggest victory anyone can aspire to. It was not an individual success.
9. With the new season about to get underway, what is the team going to do in order to try and successfully defend the Champions League?
   No team has defended the title in history. We know it will be very difficult. Our starting point resides in the fact that the team is more confident in itself. It is more confident now thanks to recent success. I think that gives us something extra for this season’s Champions League.
10. What is the secret to winning as many titles as you have as a coach?
    The secret to winning is that there is no secret. You need ambition, desire and commitment, and none of those are secrets.