"Illarra hasn't played much, but we have confidence in him"

Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media ahead of Real Madrid's Liga trip to Córdoba, where his side will aim to maintain leadership of the division with a game in hand. Ancelotti answered questions about Lucas Silva, Asier Illarramendi and rotations.

Odegaard: "For him to play with the first team at the moment is difficult. He has the quality to compete with these players. He is very young and we are sure he will be an important player for Madrid. But at 16 years old it is difficult. If we look to the future I think he will be a Madrid player."

Lucas Silva: "I won't say anything because he is not a Madrid player. I don't want to talk about that."

Rotations: "Tomorrow the best team will play, we don't need to rotate. The team is fine. Only Isco is unavailable, because he stained a muscle against Getafe. Pepe is also out."

Illarramendi: "There is nothing new. He is a Madrid player. He hasn't played much, but that doesn't alter confidence in him or the importance he has in the dressing room. At this moment we are not thinking about Illarra leaving. He is an important player. To have a motivated team we need players that although not playing much are professional and ready to play. He is one of those players."

Vote of no confidence? "If you evaluate confidence purely in terms of minutes, every game I have 11 players I trust and others that I don't. That is not the way to manage a football team. Confidence in him is complete. If I need him I'll select him."

Will he play against Córdoba? "Either Illarramendi or Khedira will play."

Sergio Ramos: "I don't think the matter of his renewal will affect Ramos' performances. He is always motivated. He is every day more important to the team. I don't think he's worried about it. Everybody knows perfectly well that Sergio Ramos is indispensible. His renewal is not my issue. I don't want to talk about it. He will stay here and I think he is clear on that. There are players that wear a shirt and will do so for their entire careers. I could easily say the same about Iker, Cristiano or Ramos."

Cristiano Ronaldo: "I say the same thing as I said to the squad. He is always at his peak. I have not seen any deterioration in Cristiano. It's true he hasn't scored for a couple fo games but his physical and mental condition is always maximum.

A game a week: "The team hasn't lost tempo because we trained hard this week. It's a little odd to have a whole week to train. I had forgotten what it is like. Having a week gives us more possibilities to hurt the opposition."

Luka Modric: "Last week I said a month and today I say a month minus a week. In 15 days he will be able to train with the squad again. We hope that when the Champions League starts again he will start to play."

Córdoba: "They are a team that is more confident in their play now. They have changed managers and they are on a good run. They beat Athletic away. It will be a complicated and tough match. We will have to be at our best."

Cristiano's fitness: "I can explain to you how we work with all the players. They do pool work with cold and hot water. I think he does more work on his own at home and you also have to take into account his genetic make-up."

Toni Kroos: "He is playing in a position in front of the defence. He has vision and intelligence. He is playing very well. He has surprised us with how well he has placed from the opening game.

Mourinho's methods: "I don't know his methods particularly well. He works in the same way that I do. We work a lot with the ball. When I came here I didn't hear a bad word about him. I don't what happened with the players when he was here. When I arrived another cycle began and the other one is forgotten."

Ronaldo playing until he's 40? "I think so, yes. It's difficult to say when a placer with his physical and mental conditioning might retire. He competes against himself to improve and he keeps his motivation high."

from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/1t6wSso

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