Ancelotti on Madrid exit talk: I won’t decide

Carlo Ancelotti has denied that he has made his mind up to leave Real Madrid this summer, saying “I won’t decide my departure date from this club.”

Spanish radio station Onda Cero had reported on Monday that Ancelotti — whose contract runs until 2026 — had already decided to move on, regardless of what happens between now and the end of the season.

“No. I want to be very clear. I won’t decide my departure date from this club,” Ancelotti said on Tuesday in a news conference ahead of Madrid’s Champions League game with RB Salzburg. “I know the day will come. But when that day will come, I don’t know. I won’t decide. It could be tomorrow, after the next game, in a year, or in five years.”

“I have a target. We have Florentino [Pérez] here for another four years,” Ancelotti added, smiling, after Pérez was re-elected as club president. “He knows me well, and the target is to be here for those four years. We can leave together with all the affection in the world!”

Real Madrid are top of LaLiga, two points clear of Atletico Madrid and seven ahead of Barcelona, and have won two trophies this campaign, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.

However the team have also faced criticism from fans and the media and have been twice heavily beaten by Barça, 0-4 in the league in October, and 2-5 in the Spanish Supercopa final in Saudi Arabia last week.

“I feel very loved [here] in every sense, by the fans, by the club,” Ancelotti said. “And by the media. Sometimes things get exaggerated, but I want to stay objective and follow my path.”

Madrid have suffered some notable losses in the Champions League this season, losing to Lille, AC Milan and Liverpool, and surviving scares to beat Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta.

They host Salzburg at the Bernabéu with a top eight finish — which would mean direct progression to the knockout stage — already looking unlikely, with nine points from six games.

“We don’t have much chance, but the only chance we have is winning the two remaining games,” Ancelotti said. “If we have to play the playoff round, we’ll do our best. It’s a demanding calendar, but we’re used to it.”