Madrid focus on Champions League

MADRID: Real Madrid wants to quickly forget about Kylian Mbappé and turn its focus back on the Champions League final against Liverpool.

Four days before the final in suburban Paris, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and his players tried their best to avoid talking about the France forward and his decision to stay with Paris Saint-Germain. They also downplayed the apparent call for vengeance by Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, who was on the losing side when the two teams met in the 2018 final in Kyiv. Mbappé made the surprising announcement about his future on Saturday, dealing a major blow to Madrid and its fans, who were certain he would be playing in the Spanish capital next season.

"It's very clear for us that we have to think about our own things," Ancelotti said Tuesday. "We've never talked about players from other squads. We respect everyone, every decision, every club. We have to do our own job. It's very clear and obvious what we have to think about, which is to prepare for the final." Madrid as a club had not made any comments about Mbappé's decision, although some players were quick to post messages praising the club and saying it was a honor to wear its jersey. Veteran defender Marcelo said there was no Mbappé talk in the locker room.

"It wasn't a surprise because we don't talk about players from other teams," said Marcelo, one of the Madrid players with a chance to win a fifth Champions League title. "It's indifferent. It would be something else if he had been signed by Madrid, but because he was not a Madrid player, there is no reason to talk about what happened."

Karim Benzema, Mbappé's teammate on the French national team, said there was nothing more important than Saturday's match.

"We are playing a Champions League final on Saturday," he told MarcaTV. "It's not the time to talk about these other small things."