March 12, 2015 15:51:47 UK
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has rubbished speculation head coach Carlo Ancelotti is set to lose his job following a recent poor run of form.
The Los Blancos faithful were far from happy on Tuesday night as Real narrowly made it through to the Champions League quarter-finals, losing the second leg to Schalke 4-3 at the Bernabeu but advancing 5-4 on aggregate.
The defeat was the latest in a string of poor results since the turn of the year and the home supporters booed their team off at full-time.
Recent performances have been in stark contrast to how Real ended 2014 when they recorded 22 consecutive victories in all competitions.
Since the turn of the year, Real have lost three times, including a surprise 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao last weekend.
Real have also lost top spot in the La Liga standings to Barcelona, who are 1.57 to win the title, with their Madrid rivals 2.37.
The recent poor performances has lead to speculation Ancelotti is facing the sack should Real fail to get a positive result in this month’s Clasico against Barcelona, with Zinedine Zidane in line to takeover.
However, Perez says there are no plans to get rid of the Italian and has called on the club and its fans to rally behind Ancelotti.
Perez said: “To use the fact that we are not on our best form at the moment to report information that is not true is unacceptable. I want to state categorically that the club has full confidence in our coach and in our players.
“And I want to say, contrary to a report published today, that whatever happens in the coming days and weeks Carlo Ancelotti will remain the coach of Real Madrid. We have the best coach and the best players that Real Madrid could have.
“As president of Real Madrid, I appeal to our fans to support our coach and our players and ask that they feel proud of them for all they have given us and for all they will continue to give us.”
Real will be expected to get back to winning ways against Levante on Sunday night. They are 1.062 for the win, with their struggling opponents 34.00 and the draw 13.00.
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