Hardik Pandya May Return For Mushtaq Ali Trophy; Likely To Play Ranji Too

With a big tour of Australia on the horizon, India’s white-ball expert Hardik Pandya looks set to return to action after a big break with an appearance in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to gear up for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The India all-rounder has also expressed a desire to play red-ball cricket of his state in the Ranji Trophy. Although results have gone their way, Real Madrid have ridden their luck in recent matches, with Real Sociedad hitting the post three times against them last week, while in the Champions League, Stuttgart created more chances, before two goalkeeping errors gifted Madrid a 3-1 win.

Asked about his side’s lack of balance in midfield and defense ahead of Saturday’s match at home to Espanyol, Ancelotti insisted he was more interested in the results, reports Xinhua.

“It doesn’t bother me that people say Madrid plays badly because I see our fans delighted with what we’re doing,” he replied. “I think Real Madrid fans are used to rock and roll football and not to a lot of passes. And above all they like winning more than playing well,” commented the coach.

The Italian also rejected claims that his side looks unbalanced, with players such as Jude Bellingham, Vinicius, Kylian Mbappe and Rodrygo more attack-minded, while they lack a holding midfielder due to Eduardo Camavinga’s ankle injury.

“Balance is collective work that I can do with two forwards or with three. Putting in a new midfielder doesn’t mean you have more balance. The debate could be what Bellingham is: Forward or midfielder? We don’t know,” added Ancelotti.

“I like to see my team defend well, not waste time in possession and be vertical. It is difficult to define what beautiful football is,” he concluded.

Ancelotti has both Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni available to face Espanyol, who travel to Madrid in good form after Javi Puado’s hat-trick saw them win 3-2 at home to Alaves last weekend.

Espanyol are a team that traditionally does badly in Madrid and anything other than a comfortable home win would be a surprise.