Carlo Ancelotti has said his Real Madrid players have enjoyed the winter break after such a long year that has been so successful.
Los Blancos succumbed to their first defeat in three months on Tuesday night – a 4-2 loss to AC Milan in a friendly played in Dubai. But speaking to the media after the game, the Italian boss said the result didn’t matter and that the players had enjoyed a few days rest.
The club has had one of its most successful years in its history, winning the Champions League, Copa del Rey, European Super Cup, and Club World Cup.
“After a week-long break we needed a game like this. The defeat does not bother us at all and on a technical level the team was good. Now we have to rest up and then prepare for the game against Valencia,” he said.
And he added: “Milan played well, we didn’t, but you can’t say that this will affect the work we have already done. After the break we needed a match like this in order to prepare for Sunday. We are really happy to put an end to a fantastic year. We also received good news from Valdebebas, where Marcelo was able to train and tonight we didn’t have any injury problems.”
