Carlo Ancelotti hit back at Javier Tebas on Tuesday, saying the LaLiga president “talks about Real Madrid too much” and claiming Tebas showed a “lack of respect” when he accused the club of “crying” about referees.
Madrid have been angry at a series of refereeing decisions in recent weeks — after dropping points against Espanyol, Atlético Madrid and Osasuna in consecutive LaLiga games — and sent a formal letter of complaint to the Spanish football federation (RFEF) this month accusing officials of “manipulation and adulteration.”
At a talk with the news agency Europa Press on Monday, Tebas said he was “starting to feel ashamed” of being a Real Madrid fan, saying the club was “crying” about officials and creating a “conspiracy theory” which was “an insult to the rest of the clubs.”
“Tebas talks about Real Madrid too much,” Ancelotti said in a news conference on Tuesday, ahead of Madrid’s Copa del Rey semifinal first leg at Real Sociedad. “Since I’ve been here, it’s happened often. It’s a lack of respect to millions of Madrid fans to talk like that. The president of LaLiga should focus more on solving the problems that Spanish football has.”
Madrid have frequently highlighted officials’ decisions on their TV channel, before and after matches. President Florentino Pérez has called for reform of the refereeing system, and RFEF president Rafael Louzan has even claimed that Pérez told him he’d like to see English referees in Spain.
“I don’t know what ‘shame’ [Tebas] feels,” Ancelotti said. “I think all Madridistas are proud to be fans of this club.”
Also on Tuesday, Tebas hit back at Ancelotti’s comments saying on X: “Carlo, it’s a shame that they’re using you for this, given the experience you have.”
Tebas aimed his comment directly at Ancelotti, saying: “Carlo, everyone knows that institutions are reflected in what their leaders do and say. And in football, even more so. So, when I said that ‘Real Madrid has become a club that cries a lot,’ I was obviously referring to the fact that it is its leaders who are constructing this victim and conspiratorial narrative: ‘an adulterated competition,’ ‘the bias of all referees is anti-Madrid,’ ‘they are all against Real Madrid’…
“Strange, isn’t it? Because that speech, besides being disrespectful to the competition, is also disrespectful to the clubs that beat you on the field, either because they were better or simply because they were luckier. That is disrespectful to millions of fans.
“I have been a Madrid fan since I was a child, and this whole narrative that the management is promoting goes against the values ​​that we have always known.”
Ancelotti said star forward Kylian Mbappé remained in contention for Wednesday’s cup game, despite having a molar removed.
“Mbappé will travel tomorrow,” Ancelotti said. “He had a problem with his tooth, he couldn’t train today, but he’ll travel tomorrow, and everyone who travels has the chance to play.”
The Italian coach faced several questions on young midfielder Arda Güler, 20, who has barely featured for the team in recent weeks, with one appearance in Madrid’s last seven games.
“Any player who has doubts can come to my office and talk to me,” Ancelotti said, when asked if there was an issue with the playmaker. “I read that there’s a ‘Guler case’ but that case hasn’t reached me here. It’s a problem every young player has had, like Rodrygo, VinÃcius [Júnior], [Federico] Valverde.
“I don’t want a player to be happy when they don’t play. I want them to want to work, to learn. It’s normal. But I’m with [Güler] a small part of the time. He’s often with other people, and I don’t know if they have the same idea that I have… That’s a lack of communication.”
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