Ancelotti: Fifty per cent chance I'll leave PSG

The Parisiens have already confirmed that they have rejected an approach from Real Madrid for the Italian coach, who landed the Ligue 1 title last weekend

Paris Saint-Germain boss Carlo Ancelotti has admitted that it is “50-50” whether he will remain at the Parc des Princes.

The Italian coach still has a year to run on his current contract with the newly-crowned Ligue 1 champions but that has not dissuaded Real Madrid from trying to lure him to the Santiago Bernabeu, with les Parisiens president Nasser Al-Khelaifi having confirmed earlier this week that he has already rejected one approach from los Blancos.

However, Ancelotti has confessed that, while he wants to honour his deal with PSG, his future in the French capital remains uncertain.

“Today, it is 50-50,” he told L’Equipe when asked about the likelihood of him still being at the Parc des Prince next season. “I want [to stay], but only if there is the opportunity to continue. I am well integrated here and I’m not a person who likes change.

“I was disappointed when I left Chelsea. And if I leave Paris, there will inevitably be a little sadness; that’s normal.

“I see, these days, that everyone wants me to stay. The most important thing is to work in an atmosphere where you feel you trust.

“Everybody knows my position: I have a contract with PSG and if I want to leave the club, I have to talk with the club. I will do things correctly, as I have always done.”

Ancelotti dismissed the suggestion that his next move hinges on whether PSG grant him a greater say in the running of the club, insisting that there has been no falling-out with sporting director Leonardo.

“This is not a matter of having more power,” he declared. “My job is to prepare the team on the field. I do not want anything else because my trust Leonardo is fantastic.

“We have all been through a lot of things, some beautiful, some less beautiful. But I have not yet spoken with the club. We will have a meeting on Friday and then we’ll see.

“First, I want to talk to the club and understand what happened this season and what will happen in the future.”

Indeed, Ancelotti revealed that he has yet to discuss this summer’s transfer targets with his employers.

“We have not yet spoken about it,” the 53-year-old confirmed. “We had a lot to do so far. But the backbone has been made. The team is already competitive. We only need to strengthen a little bit.”

Ancelotti added that that also means rejecting any offers for Jeremy Menez and Mamadou Sakho, who have been linked with Monaco in recent days.

“These are two young players and young players are part of the future of PSG,” he explained. “They are non-transferable.”

Ancelotti, who has won the European Cup as a player and its successor the Champions League as a coach, joined PSG six months after being sacked by Chelsea.

One final flourish: Mourinho must swallow his pride and pick Pepe

The Portuguese coach has fallen out with the majority of his squad and will leave Madrid next month, but will ask his footballers for one last push in Friday’s Copa del Rey final

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By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer

The end is in sight. Jose Mourinho draws ever closer to a Real Madrid exit at the conclusion of his third term in Spain. But before the end comes the Copa del Rey final – and he wants to win it.

Mourinho left Porto, Chelsea and Inter on excellent terms with almost all of his players, but the same cannot be said of Madrid. The Portuguese has fallen out with virtually each member of his squad over the last few months and a summer separation now looks to be the only option for all concerned. However, with a trophy up for grabs on Friday, the 50-year-old will ask those footballers for one last effort – a final flourish.

Jose’s tenure in Madrid was kick-started by the capture of the Copa del Rey in 2011, when Madrid beat Barcelona at the showpiece in Valencia. La Liga then followed last season, with the Spanish Supercopa added at the beginning of the current campaign. A second Primera Division title eluded the Portuguese, though, after a stuttering start saw his side lose too much ground to Barca, while the Decima dream remains just that as Mourinho watched his team lose three straight semi-finals in the Champions League – in 2010-11, 2011-12 and again this term.

Nevertheless, a fourth trophy would represent a satisfactory conclusion to his three-year tenure. That is what the club are focusing on now and the squad dined together on Tuesday in a bid to promote team spirit and build morale ahead of the Copa final on Friday, when the Blancos face city rivals Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Perhaps tellingly, Mourinho was absent at the lunch organised by his players. But despite the bad blood, they will want to win Friday’s final just as much as their coach.

Captain Iker Casillas will be on the bench once again as Diego Lopez starts in goal, but Mourinho should swallow his pride and pick Pepe for the derby clash on Friday.

Pepe recently upset Mourinho by publicly criticising his coach after the 4-3 win over Valladolid, when he told Canal Plus that his boss should show more respect to Casillas.

Mourinho hit back by claiming that Pepe’s problem was Rapahel Varane, the brilliant 20-year-old defender who has displaced the Portugal centre-back in the team this term. Now, however, Mourinho has a problem too: Varane is sidelined.

The young Frenchman injured his knee in the weekend draw at Espanyol and has since undergone surgery to repair the problem. He will miss the final and has almost certainly played his final game under Mourinho at Madrid.

That leaves the coach with a dilemma. Sergio Ramos is expected to be fit for the final after two weeks out, but the Portuguese appears not to trust Raul Albiol or Ricardo Carvalho. So he has to play Pepe.

Ahead of the Champions League semi-final second leg against Borussia Dortmund, Mourinho asked his players for one big effort – and he got it as Madrid won 2-0 to miss out by a single strike in the 4-3 aggregate defeat.

Now he needs another – from Pepe and the rest of his players too. La Liga was finally lost at the weekend, although it had left their reach a long, long time ago. So Friday’s fixture is now all that matters for Mourinho at Madrid. A happy ending is impossible; the scars run too deep and the divisions are too painful. Yet victory against Atletico will bring Mourinho’s spell at Madrid to an amicable conclusion. And that is what everyone at the club will want: a final flourish.

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Higuain out to exploit Atletico 'weak points'

The Rojiblancos have only conceded 30 goals in La Liga this year but the Argentina international believes that the Merengues have to players to break Diego Simeone’s men down

Gonzalo Higuain says Atletico Madrid have obvious “weak points” that Real Madrid must exploit in order to win the Copa del Rey.

The two sides will meet at the Santiago Bernabeu on Friday, with los Blancos the overwhelming favourites to prevail on account of the fact that they have not been beaten by their city rivals in any competition since 1999.

Consequently, while los Colchoneros currently boast the best defence in La Liga, Higuain believes that free-scoring Madrid are set for more derby success.

“If Atletico have conceded fewer goals this season, it’s because they’re playing well,” the Argentine acknowledged during an interview with Bwin.

“But our idea is to look for their weak points, which they have. And I hope that’s reflected on Friday and we can take it.”

Some pundits are viewing the final as a direct shootout between Merengues hotshot Cristiano Ronaldo and Rojiblancos hitman Radamel Falcao, but Higuain does not see it that way.

“Of course they’re going to be important, but the key is for the team to be at its best, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” the forward explained.

“If we can do that, we have great possibilities of the Cup being ours.”

The touchline battle is also being talked up, with the always lively Jose Mourinho pitting his wits against the very passionate Diego Simeone, and Higuain has great respect for both men.

“They are great coaches,” he enthused. “So it is going to be an exciting match between two life-long rivals in the Madrid derby, and I hope the winner is our coach, because that means that we are going to win the game.”

However, Higuain dismissed the suggestion that the fact that the game is being played at Madrid’s home ground will give Mourinho’s men a massive advantage.

“I hope we can use that factor, but later it will be divided up half and half, so I don’t think it’s going to have an influence.”

The eagerly-awaited Copa derby kicks off at the Santiago Bernabeu at 21:30CET.

Ronaldo: If we play well, we will win Copa del Rey

The Portuguese believes that los Blancos are in good form going into their mammoth derby clash and feels that victory is theirs for the taking

Cristiano Ronaldo is in no doubt that Real Madrid will prevail if they play to their full potential in Friday night’s Copa del Rey final against Atletico Madrid.

Los Blancos have the benefit of home advantage for the tournament decider, as well as a remarkable record against their city rivals, whom they have not been beaten by in any competition since 1999.

Ronaldo also believes that in spite of their recent elimination by Borussia Dortmund at the semi-final stage of the Champions League, Jose Mourinho’s men are in fine fettle going into this most important of Madrid derbies.

“We’re very excited about this trophy and we want to win,” the forward told his club’s official website. “We know it’s going to be a really hard-fought game against a rival from the same city. It’s going to be a great show.

“Let’s hope that Real Madrid can win. But if we go out on the pitch strong and we play as we know how, we’re going to win.”

However, Ronaldo also believes that Madrid’s fans have a massive part to play in Friday’s final, given that they will not be in the majority for once.

Consequently, the former Manchester United winger is hoping that the club’s supporters will try to replicate the passion they display before and during their recent semi-final, second-leg clash with Dortmund.

“It was amazing,” he enthused. “As long as I’ve been here I have never seen a reception like that. It was a really special, unique moment that none of us players will ever forget.

“I hope that the same happens on Friday because it motivates us to give our all when we hit the playing field. That’s what we want.

“It’s going to be a strange final because we’re playing in our stadium but the fans will be divided 50/50.

“But that isn’t going to take away our ambition to win this cup.”

The Copa del Rey final is scheduled to kick off at 21:30CET.