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Madrid coach Ancelotti returns to Napoli with point to prove

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carlo ancelotti

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is not a man to hold a grudge, as reflected by his return to the Spanish capital despite being harshly sacked by Los Blancos chief Florentino Perez in 2015. However the 64-year-old veteran would doubtless enjoy proving a point when his Madrid side visit Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

Ancelotti was axed by president Aurelio De Laurentiis in December 2019, less than an hour after helping Napoli reach the Champions League knock-out stages with a 4-0 thrashing of Genk.

The Italian side were struggling in seventh in Serie A at the time and won their first Scudetto for 33 years in 2023, so De Laurentiis will consider his decisions more than justified.

Ancelotti spent a year and a half in charge of Napoli, guiding them to a second place finish in the 2018-19 campaign, but his tenure was abruptly cut short in its sophomore year.

At the time it seemed Ancelotti had reached the game’s summit years earlier and was on the way down football’s food chain, with his next appointment at Everton appearing to confirm that.

Dressing room tensions and a dispute with De Laurentiis over a training camp led to his downfall in Campania. The president appeared to think Ancelotti did not have it in him to manage the squad.

However Ancelotti’s surprise return to the helm of Madrid in 2021 put him back among the elite, and in 2022 he won his fourth Champions League title as a coach, more than anyone else, as well as LaLiga to complete a superb double.

Madrid’s 3-0 win at Girona on Sunday ensures they also arrive in Italy as leaders in LaLiga, after a wobble in the derby against rivals Atletico Madrid. A painful 3-1 loss at the Metropolitano on September 24 saw Ancelotti come in for criticism for his tactics and diamond midfield system.

However the Italian made some minor changes and it proved sufficient to earn a comfortable victory over the high-flying Catalans, who had hoped to score a second consecutive home win over Madrid at Montilivi.

“Winning here means that we did well and I’d like to highlight our defensive work, which was very good,” Ancelotti told reporters.

The coach deployed Eduardo Camavinga at left-back instead of the more attacking Fran Garcia, and also asked Jude Bellingham to help with covering Girona to ease the burden on Vinicius Junior.

“We put Bellingham on the outside to avoid Vini having too many defensive duties, bearing in mind that (Aurelien) Tchouameni was in the centre to provide cover,” added Ancelotti.

Bellingham has seven goals and two assists this season across all competitions, largely playing in the number 10 role, despite his capacity to operate in deeper areas.

It was an “invention” by Ancelotti to help cover for the departed Karim Benzema and so far it has paid dividends for the England international, top scorer in Spain.

The coach’s tactical shift and subsequent tweaks dispel any doubts over his dedication at Madrid, showing he is not just on cruise control and heading towards the Brazil national team job he is set to take next summer.

Part of the reason behind the new set-up is to add muscle to the team and bolster the midfield, after Manchester City demolished the record 14-time European champions in last season’s semifinal.

The visit to Napoli will be another acid test for both Ancelotti’s plan and Madrid’s squad depth, with striker Victor Osimhen in excellent form, despite his recent anger over the club insulting him on social media network TikTok.

Los Blancos are without injured defender David Alaba, leaving only Antonio Rudiger and Nacho Fernandez available in central defence. Napoli coach Rudi Garcia will also be looking forward to the game – he was due to face Madrid when at Roma in 2016, but was sacked ahead of the last 16 tie.

Source: eNCA

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Football

Jack Hinshelwood saves and scores as Brighton beat Brentford

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Jack Hinshelwood saved on the line and then headed a winning first Premier League goal for Brighton & Hove Albion as the south-coast side came from a goal down to beat visitors Brentford 2-1 on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old academy product put the Seagulls ahead in the 52nd minute, after the two sides had been 1-1 at the break, when he nodded into the bottom left corner off a cross from captain and man of the match Pascal Gross.

Moments earlier Hinshelwood had made a block on the line from substitute Yoane Wissa after Neal Maupay also had a shot stopped. Brighton moved up to seventh on 25 points with Brentford 11th on 19.

The visitors took the lead through a 27th-minute penalty after their first meaningful attack, with top scorer Bryan Mbeumo coolly stroking home for his seventh goal of the season as Jason Steele dived the wrong way.

Vitaly Janelt had won the penalty when he surged into the area and was pulled down by Jan Paul van Hecke.

Brighton levelled four minutes later when Gross shot left-footed into the bottom corner off a pass from Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma. Mbeumo went down and had to be helped off in the 37th in a big blow for the Bees, with Wissa coming off the bench to replace him.

Source: eNCA

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Emtee

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Germany keeper Marc Andre ter Stegen will undergo surgery on a lower back injury

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Marc Andre ter Stegen

Barcelona and Germany keeper Marc Andre ter Stegen will undergo surgery on a lower back injury, the 31-year-old said on Tuesday. Ter Stegen missed Barca’s recent games after being ruled out of Germany’s friendlies following an injury sustained while training with his country during last month’s international break.

“After intensive conversations with the medical team of the Club and various supporting experts, we decided to undergo a surgical procedure,” Ter Stegen wrote on his Instagram account.

“The break obviously annoys me. It is the right and safe decision in order to come back in the best conditions for my Club @fcbarcelona and National Team @dfb_team.Barcelona put no timescale on his return, but local media reports said Ter Stegen would be out for several weeks and could miss the Champions League knockout stages in February.

The former Borussia Moenchengladbach player has made 17 appearances for the Catalan side this season, keeping eight clean sheets. He received the Zamora Trophy last season as the best goalkeeper in LaLiga, conceding 18 goals in 37 games, helping Barca to their first league title since 2019.

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