Carlo Ancelotti finally revealed why two of Real Madrid's brightest young stars have barely logged any minutes over the last month.
Real Madrid keeps making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The defending European and Spanish champions suffered back-to-back home defeats for the first time since May 2009. Ancelotti's men conceded four goals against Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu and then three to AC Milan in the following match. Los Blancos did not score from open play in either fixture.
The issues stunting Real Madrid's attack, featuring two of the best players in the world in Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior, have yet to be solved 17 games into the season. Despite the lack of production up top, Ancelotti has not given many opportunities to players like Endrick and Arda Güler to provide the team with a spark off the bench.
Ancelotti was asked about Endrick in his pre-match press conference ahead of Real Madrid's La Liga clash with Osasuna and the manager gave some insight into his recent decisions.
"[Endrick is] ready to play, doing very well, showing a lot of quality in training," he said. "I say the same about Güler. They are young people who are pushing. But the collective idea is to turn things around as quickly as possible. Can you do that with them? Yes. But the objective is to turn it around, that is the priority. Not to give minutes to one player or another.”
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Güler logged just one minute in Real Madrid's last four matches and Endrick zero. The two talented teenagers could only watch as their team struggled to create and score against Barcelona and Milan. Whether they could have turned either game around is something no one can know, but they could have at least provided energy and creativity to an otherwise aimless attack.
Last season, Güler scored six goals in just ten appearances for Los Blancos. He also recorded one stunning goal and two assists for Turkey at Euro 2024. Endrick, meanwhile, has two goals to his name in just 107 minutes on the pitch for Real Madrid.
Ancelotti provided a positive update for the youngsters moving forward. "We can use Endrick and Güler in the next games. They can help us a lot."
Should Real Madrid struggle against Osasuna on Nov. 9, it will only be a matter of time before Endrick and/or Güler get a chance to help the team turn its recent poor form around.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Carlo Ancelotti Reveals Key Reason Behind Not Playing Endrick and Arda Guler.