Carlo Ancelotti says he will field his strongest team possible against Malaga despite the second leg of the Champions League quarter final looming large.
Los Blancos are still in the hunt for La Liga and could return to the top of the table if results go their way tomorrow afternoon.
And the Italian said with the team relying on Barcelona to slip up, his must keep fielding his strongest teams as they attempt to win every game between now and the end of the campaign.
Speaking to reporters on Friday morning, Ancelotti said: “We rely on Barcelona. We have to think that Malaga played well against Atletico and won at Camp Nou.
“It’s normal if this Saturday the team thinks about Wednesday [when Atletico visit Santiago Bernabeu]. It’s more difficult to prepare for the game on Saturday than the one on Wednesday. I won’t rotate. The team will be the best possible one.”
When asked whether a changed in formation had brought about the poor run of results between January and March, Ancelotti responded saying it was probably down to tiredness, as the team was playing every three days for a long time with no real break.
He stated: “The 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 debate doesn’t bother me. The fact is the system is only the placement of players on the field. We never have four defenders when we attack, we only have two. The two full-backs are much further forward. That means we don’t attack with 4-3-3 but with 2-5-3. You see the system in the defensive phase.
“I believe we came to the end of the year in very good shape. We won the Club World Cup and we had 22 straight wins. After the holidays, in January, we didn’t have a lot of games after we were knocked out of the Copa del Rey. This team is used to play every three days and that caused problems.”
