Ancelotti keeping faith in his tactics despite Real Madrid’s indifferent form

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has no intention of altering his tactics because of the European champions’ indifferent domestic form, he said yesterday.

Real host Schalke 04 in a Champions League last 16, second leg, tonight and should have little trouble getting past the Bundesliga side into the quarter-finals as they have a 2-0 advantage from last month’s first leg in Gelsenkirchen.

Alarm bells

However, a 1-0 reverse at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, coming after a 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal, meant Barcelona leapfrogged Real into top spot in La Liga and alarm bells are ringing at the Bernabeu.

Ancelotti, who led Real to a record-extending 10th European crown last season, typically plays with an attacking 4-3-3 formation, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale across the forward line.

The normally prolific trio, known in Spain as “BBC”, have gone off the boil since the turn of the year, prompting calls for Real to switch to a more conservative 4-4-2 lineup.

Ancelotti told a news conference previewing the Schalke game he was not about to drop any of his three forwards or switch tactics and insisted he had full faith in them.

“We are not going to change our identity, we have scored a lot of goals playing that way,” he said.

“They have given us a lot and I have total confidence in them. They have suffered a dip in form, but that is what happens, not just with the three of them.

Real have midfielders Luka Modric and Sami Khedira back from injury for the Schalke game and Ancelotti said both would get some playing time on Tuesday.

Injury concerns

Schalke 04 have injury concerns over four players, including Benedikt Hoewedes and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Defender Hoewedes and former Real striker Huntelaar picked up knocks in Saturday’s 3-1 Bundesliga win at home to Hoffenheim, along with midfielder Marco Hoeger and forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

“Who will be able to play will be decided after the final training session,” coach Roberto Di Matteo said.