Konaté spoke to the media at the Ciudad Real Madrid the day before the match against Leipzig (Wednesday, 9:00 pm CEST; Orange TV and Movistar Plus+). The Frenchman analyzed the third matchday of the Champions League: “Tomorrow is a very special match for me because I will play against my former club. I am very happy to see my former teammates, and we are eager to win tomorrow, win the first three matches, and be in a good position among the top eight in the Champions League standings. We know it is very difficult to win a match and be among the top eight in this competition. I think tomorrow we have a very good opportunity for everyone.”

First weeks at Real Madrid
“It has been incredible to be here. Everyone is helping me so much, and I haven’t had any issues with adapting. Everyone working here is making me feel very welcome. The most important thing for me is to win titles, achieve success with this club, which is at a very high level, and I hope to win many titles this season and during my time here.”

Shirts supporting Ceuta during the match against Elche
“To be honest, I didn’t fully understand what was written on the shirt, and I’m not going to talk about that topic now. After that match, I learned about everything that happened in Ceuta, and I can understand both sides. I come from France, but my parents are from Africa. Many people are in the same situation. There is one part of the story we can agree on, and another we may not, but I don’t think bad actions should be taken in any country. In a situation like this, at that moment, I didn’t know what the shirt referred to, and I didn’t know exactly what to do. I have to stay focused on football and don’t have to talk about this topic. I came here to play football, and I don’t think it was as important as it was discussed; I think it’s something normal.”

Real Madrid’s impact
“It’s more than I expected—the media, everything is magnified much more. People talk about us all over the world, but I’m very happy. I always dreamed of playing for this club; for me, it’s the best team in the world, and so everyone is going to talk about us and this club. I’m not very active on social media and don’t know what they say about us. You can read a lot of things in the media, but I try to stay a bit away from that topic.”

Negreira Case
“It’s true that we haven’t had much luck at the beginning of the season. I’ve read something about the Negreira case, etc., but I’m here to play football, and in this club, all the people who work for this club have to focus on that—on football. I have to think and concentrate on the day-to-day, on the pitch, and try to be competitive to win the Champions League. It’s true that we haven’t had much luck with referees’ decisions.”

Playing with Diomandé
“He has great talent; he’s only 19 years old. He already has incredible talent, works very hard every day, and I can’t think of why he won’t succeed at this team in the future. He’s a fantastic person, apart from being a player. I’m very happy with the last few matches, and so is he.”

Clash with Ure during the match against Sevilla
“Honestly, I haven’t seen those comments. Did you see the play? What do you think? If you think it’s not a foul, then that’s it. I’m not going to say it’s a foul. For me, it’s not a foul; it’s something obvious.”

Focus before El Clásico
“From my experience, I think it’s very important to focus only on the next match. If we win tomorrow, it will help us play better in El Clásico, but if we only focus on El Clásico, we won’t be prepared for tomorrow and surely won’t win the match, and we won’t approach that game with a good attitude. We have to think about El Clásico; it’s logical, but first, we must focus on tomorrow’s match because we want to win the Champions League this year. We also want to give everything in the rest of the competitions. We’re going to give it our all tomorrow, and after the match, we’ll think about El Clásico.”

Ancelotti differentiated between optimistic and pessimistic defenders; how do you define yourself?
“I’m an optimistic defender.”

Relationship with Mourinho
“He hasn’t told me anything special; he’s just prepared and focused on one thing, which is to win every match. We haven’t talked specifically about winning the Champions League or La Liga. We know Real Madrid’s level of demand is the highest; we have to compete for all the titles. He has an impressive aura that not all coaches have. Of course, when he speaks, everyone listens and respects him in the dressing room. He’s a great coach; everyone knows we want to win with him.”

French players in the team
“I’ve been very fortunate to share with Tchouameni and Mbappé. They already told me a lot about the club, and I knew many things when I arrived. They’ve helped me adapt to this club, and I’m very happy to be here with them because they are fantastic people. My only dream here is to achieve success and also for Mendy to recover and play because he’s a great player, and we need him too.”

Disclaimer: Translation generated by artificial intelligence. It may contain inaccuracies.