Each institution has its own identity. Clubs are the product of their past and the contribution of those performers who shaped a philosophy over the years. In that sense, Real Madrid and Barcelona are no exception. Each one proclaims a very particular football style and recently the current TDs, Carlo Ancelotti and Xavi Hernández, have opened an interesting debate.
It all started following statements made by Xavi on the eve of the Europa League quarter-final match against Eintracht Frankfurt. “The most difficult club is Barça, because apart from winning you have to play well,” he said. That statement was brought to the last press conference of Ancelotti, who responded openly.
“I would like to answer with a question: What is playing well? Everyone here has their own opinion. Mine is that playing well is doing well when you have the ball and when you don't. You can make a spectacular defense, but that doesn't mean you're playing well, because if you don't do what you need with the ball later, you're not playing well. And vice versa, if you attack well but don't defend the same, you're not playing well,” Carletto said.
The experienced Italian strategist also took advantage of the controversy that arose in relation to the duel between Manchester City and Atlético Madrid in the Champions League to deepen its idea: “Football is to attack and defend. And a team plays well when it is able to attack and defend well, whether with a low block, medium or high pressure. For me this is football and no one is going to change my mind. For example, against City, Atlético defended very well, then it can be debated whether with the ball they could have done more, but their defense was very good.”
The words of Xavi Hernández that rumbled at Santiago Bernabeu were born after a question about the performance of both teams at the European level and his answer was that at Barça there are also demands on what are the ways to win.
“The history of Barça requires us, not Madrid. The bar was set by Johan Cruyff. You have to win by playing well; otherwise, we are not happy. I don't know what's going on in Madrid. Madrid is a spectacular rival, they have a very competitive gene and they make themselves admired, but Barcelona is another story. Here you have to win and play well. The 1-0 victory is useless to us without playing well because it is discussed throughout the week. That is why I say that Barça is the most difficult and demanding club in the world. There is no other like this anywhere,” said the Catalan coach in the run-up to the defeat against Frankfurt.
But his colleague was much broader in his analysis and launched a replica that will surely reach Camp Nou. “Everyone has their opinion, all teams are difficult to train. Each team has its own demands: to win titles, to play well, to avoid relegation... Training is not simple, it's complicated. I don't know which team is the most difficult. But it's a job that we like, if we wouldn't do something else,” Ancelotti closed.
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