Didier Deschamps, the French coach, welcomed Kylian Mbappé to the Clairefontaine training camp with a jab at Ancelotti: "Tired?" he asked the Madrid player in Spanish.
It was his reaction to the complaints from the Madrid coach about the schedule and his threat not to play a match if the 72-hour rest period wasn't respected.
Deschamps to Mbappé: "Tired?"
Mbappé took the French coach's question as a joke and replied with laughter: "A little bit?".
Although the moment seemed relaxed, the truth is that the relationship between Didier Deschamps and Mbappé is not at its best. The French coach didn't like it at all when Kylian asked him not to call him up in October. He told him then that he was "tired".
He then justified it with some physical discomfort that, however, didn't prevent him from playing with Real Madrid, which caused displeasure in his coach.
Deschamps's response was not to call him up in November. Since then, the relationship between them has been tense. Although outwardly they maintain the obligatory cordiality between a coach and his star.
Lamine Yamal Responds to Ancelotti: "The 72 Hours Thing Is the Other Way Around for Me"
Lamine Yamal has joined the irony about Ancelotti's complaint regarding the physical state of his players. The Barça forward doesn't seem affected by the schedule, at least that's what he says.
Asked about the issue at the Spanish national team's training camp, he said: "Young people just want to play and enjoy. Nothing else enters our minds.
Soccer, besides being our job, is what we love to do the most. I have no complaints. Sometimes when I finish a match, I think, phew, there are still three days left for the next one.
The 72 hours thing is the other way around for me. I finish a match and I'm already eager to play another one".
Deschamps on one side and Lamine Yamal on the other have wanted to put Ancelotti offside for his complaints about the schedule. The truth is that, even if they laugh at him, Ancelotti only demanded the strict compliance with the regulations.