Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has said he is confident his team can retain the Champions League trophy they won in May.
Los Blancos won their 10th European Cup by defeating city rivals Atletico de Madrid in Lisbon. And the additions of James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and Keylor Navas to the squad mean Ancelotti’s side will be considered one of the favourites to lift the trophy again this season.
No team has ever defended the Champions League since it was revamped in the early 1990s. Ancelotti was part of the AC Milan side that won back-to-back European Cups in 1988 and 1989 and is aiming to become the first manager to do it.
Speaking to the club’s official website, the Italian boss said: “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.”
Before the Champions League gets underway, Los Blancos take on Sevilla in the European Super Cup. And Ancelotti said despite the fact they won the Europa League last season, they are now an unknown quantity due to the number of changes in their side.
He stated: “They won the Europa League with a group of players who worked well as a team and they deserved to win the title.”
And he continued: “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.”
