Ancelotti’s master plan ahead of awaited Clasico

Ancelotti plans to rest his best players ahead of the “Clasico”.

The Real Madrid manager faces a a tough couple of weeks and can afford no slip-ups. the italian faces Liverpool at Anfield in the Champions League and Barcelona in the first Clasico of the season. But first he must face Levante and this means he must get it absolutely right before his team’s two crunch matches.

Ancelotti has a full squad ready to face Levante on Saturday and the Italian is expected to rotate his squad thinking ahead of two of the most important matches Real Madrid will face this season.

Meanwhile FC Barcelona are at home to Eibar and no doubt Luis Enrique will be thinking about the Clasico match that will be his first as a manager although he is no stranger to these derby matches – having played for both Real Madrid and Barça.

Due to the international break, Ancelotti has his work cut out for him as some of his players will need rest. Having said that, the Italian will want to beat Liverpool and firmly position los merengues at the top of group B and also beat Barça so as to not let the Catalans dominate the Spanish league table with a possible 7 point lead should they fail.

Ancelotti looks like resting the main stars of his squad except for Cristiano Ronaldo, who made it clear that he doesn’t want to be a bystander. The Real Madrid boss will want the best squad available to face Barça at the Santiago Bernabéu and will probably put to good use Isco and Chicharito for the Levante game and possibly the Liverpool match – we will see.

Toni Kroos or Luka Modric will probably be replaced by Illarra for the Levante game and in form Varane will go head to head with Pepe for a place in the Clasico match.