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Real Madrid head into El Clasico with no shortage of motivation. Los Blancos suffered a 4-0 defeat last time the two teams faced off at the Santiago Bernabeu and Los Blancos sit second in La Liga on goal difference.
The two teams come into the match in different situations, with Barcelona dealing with the emotional blow of almost being knocked out of the Champions League and handicapped by injuries.
Real Madrid were without Karim Benzema last time out and are set to be without Thibaut Courtois this time. However on that occasion, Carlo Ancelotti attempted to start Luka Modric in a false nine role.
He was asked if he might invent a new strategy for the upcoming El Clasico, which drew a laugh and a smile from Ancelotti in his pre-match press conference.
“Invent… I have never invented anything. In football, there are no inventors. Football was invented a long time ago. What is clear is that I do not want to invent. It’s true that last year I tried to invent something and they gave me a beating…”
In the same question, he was asked if he would be starting the same line-up as in the Champions League final, but with Aurelien Tchouameni instead of Casemiro.
“The team from Paris, in terms of mentality, of course the same one as Paris is good. They are clear on what they have to do on the pitch. We will try to play a complete match, attacking well and defending well. Doing everything well, only in that way can they win matches and titles.”
Ancelotti has rotated fairly consistently this season, but on the whole, his ‘gala XI’ has returned for the likes of the Madrid derby. It is expected that he does indeed go with that team, similar to Paris, for El Clasico.