La Liga president fires shots at Carlo Ancelotti as fierce spat continues | OneFootball

The ongoing spat between Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and La Liga president Javier Tebas is showing no signs of stopping, especially after Tebas’ most recent tweet.

What began as a complaint from the Italian coach over the congested fixture schedule has now escalated into a war of words between the two.

The spat traces back to Ancelotti’s frustration with the lack of rest time between matches. Following Real Madrid’s narrow win over Villarreal before the international break, the veteran manager made it clear that his team would no longer play with less than 72 hours of rest.

The statement was a direct criticism of La Liga’s scheduling, with Ancelotti essentially issuing a veiled ultimatum.

Javier Tebas, who often likes to delve into matters relating Real Madrid, responded sharply by pointing out that Ancelotti’s reluctance to rotate his squad or utilize his five available substitutions could be contributing to his frustrations over player fatigue.

Ancelotti fired back before Real Madrid’s clash with Leganes, joking how he wasn’t aware of Tebas’ desire to coach teams.

Tebas hits back on X

Now, in response to Ancelotti’s joke, Tebas took to X to recall the manager’s own past statements regarding player substitutions.

He referenced a December 2020 interview Ancelotti gave while at Everton, where the Italian expressed doubt about the need for five changes.

“My personal opinion, three substitutions are enough to change the game,” Ancelotti had said at the time, suggesting that if a player needed rest, “you can leave him out at the start of the game.”

Tebas also recalled Ancelotti’s changing stance since rejoining Real Madrid, highlighting his comment after a match against Valencia on Sept 2021, where he had said, “With the five substitutions, we have an advantage because we have a lot of quality.”

Finally, Tebas pointed to another quote from August 2022 after a match against Espanyol, where Ancelotti said, “The five substitutions are good for us because we have fast, powerful players to exploit the spaces.”

Tebas ended the tweet by adding ‘the dynamic is good’, in what was a desperate attempt to paint the Real Madrid manager as a hypocrite.

It now remains to be seen whether the Italian tactician will choose to respond to Tebas’s pointed remarks or let the matter rest for good.