Putting up a brave face after seeing his side go down to Inter Milan in the International Champions Cup tie, Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti stressed that he was happy with his team and not concerned by the fact that it has lost three of four games on their pre-season tour of Asia.
“We planned this trip and we are happy to come here,” Ancelotti insisted at the post-match press conference in Singapore.
Bayern lost to Premier League side Arsenal on penalties last week before getting thumped by Ancelotti’s former side AC Milan on the weekend and while they beat Chelsea on Tuesday, their loss to Inter has increased the pressure on the Bavarians before the start of the season.
“That day, the match (against AC MIlan) was not good but today, the performance was good. We had good control of the game. We made some mistakes,” admitted Ancelotti as he continued “but we have to consider we played against Chelsea two days ago. We have to consider that we used a lot of players from the academy, and honestly, they did very well”.
Veteran winger Franck Ribery was forced off the pitch after being caught by Milan Skriniar in the first-half and Ancelotti allayed fears of a lengthy layoff as he said, “Ribery had a little problem on his ankle, a cut. In two or three days, he will be fit”.
Renato Sanches has been linked with a move away from the Allianz Arena after enduring a frustrating debut season with the Bavarians but Ancelotti felt that the young Portuguese had a bright showing and could yet have a future with the Bundesliga giants.
“Renato played really well. I don’t know if everyone was surprised or not, but he played really differently from last season. He has a different intensity. I’m really happy for him and he is an important player for us,” Ancelotti insisted.
Ancelotti, almost universally liked in the footballing world, ended the conference by wishing Inter manager Luciano Spalletti all the best for the coming season as he added, “Spaletti is a strong character, has a lot of experience and fantastic knowledge. I think that Inter Milan can have a really good season”.