Sawt Falasteen - Ancelotti says he will reveal future plans at end of season

The immediate goal for the 65-year-old Italian, who has one year left on his Madrid contract, is with five matches remaining to overhaul bitter rivals Barcelona's four point lead and retain the La Liga title.

Achieving that would make up somewhat for losing to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final, and the defence of their Champions League crown ended by Arsenal in the quarter-finals.

"I have a lot of affection for my club, my players and our fans, and also a lot of respect," Ancelotti told reporters ahead of Madrid's La Liga clash against Celta Vigo on Sunday.

"So I will speak about my future on the 25th (of May) and not before."

Real Madrid host Real Sociedad on May 25 in their final La Liga match of the season -- they then leave for the United States and the Club World Cup which starts on June 14.

Ancelotti said the day he leaves Madrid will be a "beautiful" one and he has never had a single problem with the club across two spells at the helm.

"It will be a fantastic goodbye, because I have a lot of affection for the club and it does for me too, I will never fight or argue with the club," said the veteran coach.

"Never have I done so in six years and I never will, I won't let myself, until the last day, which could be the 25th, which could be in 2025, or it could be the 25th of May 2026, or 2030.

"That I don't know, but whichever day it is, it will be a very beautiful day."

Ancelotti, who coached Madrid between 2013-15 and then again since 2021, has won three Champions League trophies and two La Liga titles with the club.

Ancelotti, though, faces a defensive crisis in the run-in to the season.

Antonio Rudiger, Ferland Mendy and David Alaba were all ruled out for the rest of the season this week, adding to long-term problems for Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao.

"We're thinking about the upcoming games, we're thinking about what we can fight for -- La Liga until the last second," said Ancelotti.

"We've had a lot of injuries in this week but we're convinced we can put out a good team and win tomorrow's game."

K.Hassan--SF-PST