Ancelotti knows his starsareinforatough night in Glasgow
Carlo Ancelotti reckons Celtic’s Old Firm romp proves how difficult it will be for his Real Madrid team as they start their Champions League defence.
The European champions continued their 100% start to the season with a 2-1 win at home to Real Betis, thanks to goals from their Brazilian duo of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.
Betis provided hope for the Hoops, though, after equalising and getting plenty of space when they went forward.
And Ancelotti – who is going for his fifth Champions League title as manager and is the only manager to have won the title in each of Europe’s big five leagues – is expecting a difficult game against Ange Postecoglou’s in-form side.
He said: “It will be a tough game at Celtic, for sure.
“I know Celtic have a lot of good forwards on the pitch, but so do we. They are a good team, as we saw today, and they are really quick and intense.
“We know it will be a tough game with a fantastic atmosphere at Celtic Park.
“Going to Glasgow to play Celtic will be difficult for us. But, hopefully, we can make it difficult for them too.”
And the Italian was pleased at chalking up another La Liga win, although irritated at failing to keep a clean sheet, which they have done in every league game.
He added: “The goal we conceded today was a big mistake, when we weren’t paying enough attention. We do need to improve these situations.
“It was a difficult match where we struggled to win the ball back because Real Betis are good at keeping the ball and playing out from the back.
“When we had it, we did well, though. Sometimes we lacked the final touch or pass or finish, but we’re content.”
The Bernabeu Stadium hosted its first game of the season, but Celtic fans
will sadly find a half-built building site when they visit in November.
The iconic venue is undergoing a £450 million redevelopment that won’t see it finish until the start of the next season at the earliest. It has a reduced capacity of 60,000 for now.
It took Real until the ninth minute to show how easily they can break through when a long ball from Austria captain David Alaba split the Betis defence, and Vinicius Junior galloped on before lifting a delicious lob over keeper Rui Silva.
But Manuel Pellegrini’s side took just eight minutes to level and their goal will offer Celtic plenty of encouragement.
From a throw-in, Borja Iglesias was able to waltz into the box and tee up Sergio Canales. He shot home through the legs of keeper Thibaut Courtois.
However, the hosts finally made the breakthrough in the 65th minute when another Brazilian ace, Rodrygo, tucked home a fine cutback from Federico Valverde, moments after he had come on as a sub.
Meanwhile, Rangers’ Champions League opponents, Ajax, warmed up for the Light Blues’ visit to the Amsterdam Arena on Wednesday with a 4-0 win at home to mid-table Cambuur.
Steven Bergwijn hit a firsthalf double, with Devyne Rensch and Mohammed Kudus also on the mark.
Istanbul Basaksehir will visit Tynecastle on Thursday in the Europa Conference League, and yesterday they claimed a 2-0 victory in their Super Lig meeting with Alanyaspor.