‘Hard to talk football’

Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe (centre) trains with teammates ahead of their UEFA Champions League match against AC Milan in Madrid yesterday. Pics/Getty images

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said Monday he did not have the heart to talk about football ahead of his team's Champions League clash against AC Milan, because of the devastating floods in the Valencia region.

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Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti

Los Blancos' La Liga match against Valencia on Saturday was postponed because of the situation in the east of Spain, where at least 217 people have died and many more are missing. European champions Madrid face Ancelotti's former team Milan on Tuesday, with whom he won the competition twice, in 1989 and 1990. "I hope [the situation] can be resolved quickly, and I hope you can understand that talking about football is very hard," Ancelotti told a news conference. "We are part of this country and all this affects us... I don't feel like talking about football. For me tomorrow is a very special game, but I will try to speak [about it] as little as possible." Ancelotti said football should not have been played over the weekend in Spain, with eight La Liga matches going ahead.

Various other coaches, including Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone, and players said over the weekend they would have preferred not to play. "Nobody wanted to play, that seemed the right decision to me, but it's not us in charge. Those above us make the decision," continued Ancelotti. "There are many ways to help... football should have stopped and after that football can and should help," he added.

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