Champion League: Ancelotti says Courtois is the best in the world right now, praises Endrick’s confidence

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media after the team’s 3-1 win over Stuttgart on Tuesday in the Champions League, where he talked about Thibaut Courtois’ greatness, about which he said: “I can make a list [of great goalkeepers I have coached]. He is the best in the world now, but I have had goalkeepers of great level. At the moment, Thibaut is the best of all.”

Ancelotti on the team’s performance, “We are still trying to find the best version. The assessment is that we did not start well. They were winning the duels. After 20 minutes we were in control, until the 60th minute. We could have killed the game in a couple of transitions.

‘’After the draw, we had the strength to win a very important match. It is not easy. I have coached more than two hundred Champions League matches and I do not remember not suffering, ever. I don’t remember last year very well, but we won against Union in the 95th minute suffering a lot... Suffering is nothing new.”

Ancelotti on how this team can keep going, “We won the last two Champions Leagues by defending well and taking advantage of our speed up front... We have to work on creating, but the important thing is to find the quickest and most effective way to get to the opponent’s goal. We worked a lot on set pieces. Toni RudigerHis head is a strength, and Modric’s great foot must be appreciated.”

Ancelotti on Stuttgart’s quality, “Stuttgart are very good ball handlers. We lost a lot of one-on-one duels. We struggled a lot in the first half. We could have scored more, but in the end, everything worked out.”

Ancelotti also credited the Endrick with having the courage to shoot from that position, rather than passing to a nearby teammate.

“He has balls because it was a counterattack and he dared to shoot.

 “I was worried before and during the match. I’m not worried anymore now. Endrick had courage in that last ball of the match. The best solution was to take advantage of the three against one, but he was convinced. He did it very well. It was the most complicated solution, but it worked out very well for him.

“He is capable of doing things that no one can think of. At least I didn’t think of that. He has the gift of being very effective. You can see that he has something special. And a very strong and very fast shot.”