“I understand” – Carlo Ancelotti sympathises with Atletico Madrid ahead of derby showdown | OneFootball

Real Madrid will make the short trip to the Metropolitano on Sunday evening, where they will take on Atletico Madrid in the first Madrid derby of the season. It promises to be an intriguing affair, although there are suggestions that Los Blancos will be better prepared for it than their local rivals.

Atleti played their midweek match on Thursday, where Real Madrid’s (against Alaves) was on Tuesday – this means that Carlo Ancelotti’s side have had 48 hours extra to rest and prepare for the derby.

Atleti are not happy about this, and Ancelotti is sympathetic of the situation, as he stated during his pre-match press conference (via Diario AS).

“I understand their complaints. It has happened to us many times, most of them against Atletico.”

Ancelotti also provided his assessment of Atleti, who have had a promising start to the new season – ahead of Sunday’s match, they are only two points behind his Real Madrid side.

“Atletico Madrid are better this season than last year. They signed good players. They will fight for La Liga with us and Barcelona. We know it’s a difficult game. We can’t predict what will happen tomorrow. We have our plan, let’s see if it goes well.”