Carlo Ancelotti explains Real Madrid’s pre-season plans

The time has come for European clubs to begin their pre-season training and compete in friendly matches in preparation for the upcoming 2023/24 campaign. Some clubs will have more work to do than others due to the number of changes to their squad. It feels like Real Madrid fall under that category.

Real Madrid will no doubt have a lot work to do during pre-season this summer. The team has seen a number of key players depart as well as a number of new players come in, leaving many decisions to be made by the coaching staff.

Carlo Ancelotti has a lot of decisions to ponder upon, when it comes to tactics and lineups, as he looks to get the best out of this squad. One would hope that he uses the pre-season friendlies to the full extent to make sure he gets a good idea of what works and what does not, when it comes to the current crop of players.

There have been rumours that there could be a formation change coming up as well, with Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo potentially being used as a duo up top, rather than play an out-and-out striker following Karim Benzema’s exit. Thus, fans will be keeping a closer on this pre-season tour than any of the recent ones.

Ancelotti explains Real Madrid’s pre-season plans

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Ancelotti said:

"“At Real Madrid, there’s a lot of supporters around the world.“And so we can give to all the supporters the chance to see Real Madrid and to show a good image.”"

Ancelotti also discussed the importance of pre-season, as he heads into his fifth campaign as Real Madrid manager over his two stints in the Spanish capital:

"“Competitive games in the preseason turns your team to be better when the season starts.“The second part of the preseason, we need to do friendly games, important games, more competitive [games]. And so this is the reason we are going to United States.”"

Real Madrid will travel to the United States to play four friendly matches in four different cities before heading back to Spain for the start of the season. They will be taking on clubs like AC Milan, Manchester United, Barcelona and Juventus in pre-season.