Real Madrid will have to rotate their squad more to keep players fresh with less than 100 days to go until the World Cup, manager Carlo Ancelotti said on Saturday.

The Italian coach is concerned about what the state of the players will be like after the tournament in Qatar, which will start on November 20.

“Until the World Cup we won’t have many problems. The players will want to go in good condition and they will prepare well,” Ancelotti said at a press conference prior to Real’s debut in LaLiga on Sunday in Almería.

“The big question we have is after the World Cup, how the players will return. After the World Cup they usually go on vacation and this year they will return to enter the important moment of the season. You have to evaluate the fatigue, think about giving rest (…) These are things that we doubt today,” he added.

Ancelotti said this was one of the main reasons why he urged the club not to let go of any of the key players who won the Champions League-LaLiga double and why he wanted to strengthen some positions to have a deeper squad.

“The reasons for the rotations are the fact that the squad is very strong and you have to keep everyone very motivated. Also because of the World Cup, for which we need a very long squad and in good condition,” Ancelotti said. “The idea is to rotate a little more compared to last year, also because I have a more complete squad.”

The Italian coach indicated that he hopes to use forward Eden Hazard more, but specified that the Belgian international must be fully fit to be a protagonist.

“I don’t know what he thinks of how much he can play. He will do it more than last year,” he said. “He can do it in different attacking positions. He’s more used to it on the left, but he did well on the right in Bilbao and we’re testing him as a false 9, where he can show his quality. I’m sure he’s going to show his quality.”