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Ancelotti explains why Odegaard didn’t make it at Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti has explained why Martin Odegaard didn’t make it at Real Madrid, adding that he believes the player made the right choice to leave.
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On Tuesday night, Martin Odegaard has the chance to play against former club Real Madrid for the first time since leaving the club to join Arsenal in 2021.
Odegaard has played against Real Madrid before, featuring three times in matches against his parent club whilst on loan with Real Sociedad. Spain don’t have the same rules as England with regards to loanees facing their parent clubs, so he was eligible for all three matches.
But the situation is different now. Odegaard is fully established as an Arsenal player, with no official ties to Real Madrid anymore.
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That’s partly because of Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, who took charge with his current club not long before they made the decision to sell Odegaard to Arsenal.
Ancelotti had also been in charge in Madrid when Odegaard first arrived, during his first managerial spell in Spain. Reflecting on those two brief spells alongside the Norwegian international, Ancelotti has explained why they didn’t work out.
“When he arrived, as I said, he was really young, he didn’t have space to play in the first team,” Ancelotti recalled.
“In front he had Ronaldo, Benzema, James Rodriguez, and he didn’t find maybe the space to show his quality. He was really young, he decided to go away and to have the possibility to play and I think honestly, he did well (with that choice).
“Now he’s back in one of the most important clubs in Europe.”
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If there’s a coach in world football that Odegaard might feel he has a point to prove against, it’s Ancelotti. The manager who didn’t trust him when he first arrived, and ultimately sold him.
For what it’s worth, Odegaard has one goal against Real Madrid in his career so far. It was the opener as Real Sociedad knocked his parent club out of the Copa del Rey in 2020, at the quarter-final stage. Mikel Merino scored the winning goal.
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