Valencia coach: Alonso's Real Madrid is more complete than Ancelotti's

Carlos Corberán has thoroughly studied Xabi Alonso's Real Madrid. It's not the same team that Carlo Ancelotti's side beat last season. 

The Valencia coach analyzed the Madrid squad and highlighted its evolution: "They are teams that maintain a similar core of players, but Xabi's Madrid is more well-rounded, trying to control the opponent better through attack."

For Corberán, the most visible change lies in the management of pace and space occupation. "They are an opponent that continues to take advantage of the verticality inherent in their players, but they have increased it by slowing the game down and clearly maintaining certain positions that allow them to attack more effectively."

"The fact that Madrid uses more passes before finishing plays makes it more difficult to launch counter-attacks. That's the main difference: they have verticality on the left wing, and on the right wing, the game is more fluid, they combine more, and they force you to defend more. The challenge of counter-attacking is even greater," he explained.

The Valencia manager pointed out that his team must show character this Saturday at the Santiago Bernabéu. “We must have resilience and personality because we have to defend a lot at many points, be organized, strong, and help each other, but without that diminishing our ability to dictate the game and force Madrid to defend and not just attack,” he stated.

“You should always dream of going for a win and achieving it; that's our focus, even while being aware of the opponent, their level, and their current form. Hopefully, we can get that result. I'm convinced of our chances because the team has them,” the coach added.

Along those lines, the Valencia manager emphasized that defensive solidity cannot detract from the attack: "I expect a Valencia capable of creating good moments, hopefully as many as possible, both defensively and offensively, and a Valencia that responds, that is mentally strong."

Corberán also acknowledged that the preseason has not been ideal. "This week has been unusual; we haven't had a normal week to prepare for the match. The only day we've had the entire squad available was this Friday. We've analyzed our opponent and prepared for the game with the absolute certainty that the team is ready to play well," he commented.

Regarding players like Vinícius and Mbappé, the coach was clear: "This isn't a match to focus solely on one player. We'll defend against him well if we have a strong mentality and are constantly supporting each other. It's important to focus on our own performance." He added: "Mbappé is a player who can get behind you in a split second if you lose concentration, and that's what makes this match so demanding."

When asked about the referees, after the CTA acknowledged that the penalty against them against Villarreal was incorrect, Corberán remained calm: "We're glad we were right, but it also hurts because Valencia played a great first half and that incident had a significant impact on the game. We must focus on what we can control. We have faith in the referees; they are the ones who have to ensure fairness in this sport. Humans can make mistakes, but it's a shame that technology is the one generating errors that a human being in real time wouldn't make."

Finally, Corberán stated that he is completely focused on the match against Real Madrid and not on what might happen if they don’t win this game and the next one, which is against Betis.

"In football, results greatly influence feelings and analyses, but I'm not going to fight against that. I focus on performances that can improve the results. The line between a positive and a negative result is very fine; however, the consequences in terms of feelings, analysis, and interpretations are very different," he concluded.