Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the press on the eve of the league game against Real Sociedad. The Real Madrid coach talked about his team's progress since the previous encounter between the sides in Anoeta: “I think we have improved a lot and we went on a very good run. This is a different Real Madrid compared to the team in that match during the first half of the season. We have to play with more intensity and apply more pressure in defence. I thought we left too much space at the back against Córdoba". "Lucas Silva has incorporated well with group, he's in good physical shape although he's not at peak fitness yet because his season only began on 7 January. He's in good form, he's part of the squad and could get a run out”. Tactical system “We always play the same, with a 4-4-2 formation, and we try to attack and defend the same way. Illarra will play tomorrow”. Illarramendi “It's true that we received an offer from Athletic, but the player is happy here. He's evaluated his situation and wants to stay here. We are happy with him. He hasn't played much but has shown great professionalism and has done well whenever he has come on”.

"Cristiano will see out his suspension and will make the most of the situation to train well and be at to his best for his return. He doesn't need any recovery time because he doesn't have any problems with his knee or with any other part of his body. He was training all week until yesterday, now he has two days off and will then join up with the team again".



Fitness

"He has recovered from the problem he had with his tendon last year. He's always at full fitness from what I can see. He was the first person to ask for forgiveness after his outburst in Cordoba. He made a mistake and he's fully aware of that. He'll see out his suspension and hopefully this won't happen again”.



Kick off times

“We are used to playing at any time with the way football is nowadays. I personally prefer playing at night, it gives us more time. Teams that play a lot of games are more accustomed to playing at night. The hardest fixture to prepare for is a noon kick off because you don't have a lot of preparation time and the players need to eat beforehand. There's not much of a difference between playing at 4pm or 8pm”.



Bale and Odegaard

"Bale is team-mate who can help him out but he's not the only one. Odegaard can't be compared with Bale just yet. We have to be patient with him. We need to give him time, he has bags of talent but he has to be allowed to develop. He needs patience in order to showcase his quality".



The Atlético-Barcelona Copa game

“It's normal for there to be tension in a game like that, especially when it's between two sides of that quality in a knock-out tie. From time to time that pressure gets into the players heads and they behave strangely on the pitch. At the end of the day, it all ends when the final whistle is blown”.



“I don't see their midweek Copa del Rey clash benefitting us. Both those sides are able to recover very quickly and I don't think either Barcelona or Atlético will be affected in their upcoming games because of that match”.