Real Madrid have to be at their best when they take on Real Betis in this afternoon’s La Liga fixture, according to Carlo Ancelotti.
Los Blancos are heavy favourites to beat the bottom place club in the league, but the Italian manager warned his players that the hosts will be motivated to beat the title chaser, and will up their game when the capital club are in town.
Madrid are also looking to avenge the painful defeat suffered at in Seville last season, as Betis overcame the European giants in a 1-0 win.
Speaking at his press conference ahead of the match, Ancelotti warned his players against complacency, and said they would be foolish to take the opposition lightly. “All matches are tough, especially against teams who are struggling in the table. Real Betis are last at the moment and so will give everything they can because they need to change their pattern of results. Every match is good for them, especially against big teams like Real Madrid,” he stated.
The boss, who has guided his team to 23 victories from 29 competitive fixture since he took charge in the summer, also urged his players to go game-by-game now as they reach the halfway point in the league. Any drop in focus could be damaging to their title ambitions he said.
“The players are very experienced and know what football is like. We have to prepare well for every match, especially in this period of the season. We have to maintain our good run of recent results. The motivation for this match does not need to be explained, because the players already know. I don’t know about being in cruise control, as I said, we’ve started 2014 well but we need to keep it going,” Ancelotti told reporters.
