MADRID (AP) — Carlo Ancelotti wants to finish his “spectacular adventure” with Real Madrid on a high note before turning his attention to his new job with five-time world champion Brazil.
Speaking for the first time since Brazil announced him as its next coach, Ancelotti said Tuesday he wants to remain fully focused on Madrid in his final two weeks in charge of the Spanish powerhouse.
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Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti, left, gives instructions during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti reacts during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti reacts during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti gives instructions during the La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, May 11, 2025. AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti reacts during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
The 65-year-old Italian had not commented on the move until he was asked about it at a news conference ahead of Madrid’s next Spanish league match against Mallorca on Wednesday.
“I have great respect for this club, these fans and these players and I'm totally focused on finishing the last part of this spectacular adventure,” Ancelotti said. “Beginning on May 26 I will start coaching Brazil, which will be a great challenge personally, but until then I will continue training Real Madrid and I want to finish the best possible way.”
Ancelotti said he will give his all to help Madrid finish well in the Spanish league even though it only has a slim chance of defending its title. The club's last two league matches will be at Sevilla on Sunday and against Real Sociedad on May 25.
“It's very clear what I have to do during these next few weeks,” Ancelotti said. “I have to prepare for tomorrow's match, then for the (weekend's) match and then for the match against Real Sociedad. On May 26 I'll have something else to do, and then I will start thinking about that.”
Former Madrid player Xabi Alonso is widely expected to take over the coaching job after confirming he is leaving Bayer Leverkusen, but the Spanish club has yet to announce Ancelotti's successor.
“I like Alonso a lot,” Ancelotti said when asked about the former midfielder. “I don’t have any advice for him because he already has all the tools needed to become a great coach in the future.”
Ancelotti, wearing Madrid's apparel as usual, looked relaxed as he led the team's practice session at the club's training center.
Madrid had not released any reaction or statement about its coach since Brazil's announcement, and there were no farewell or congratulatory messages for Ancelotti either.
“The club will make its announcement when it wants to make its announcement,” Ancelotti said. “I don't see any problem.”
Ancelotti had previously said he would never leave Madrid unless the club decided to make a change. On Tuesday, he said the partnership naturally came to an end.
“I never felt that Madrid didn't want me,” Ancelotti said. "These are normal things in life, I couldn't be Madrid's coach forever. There's a time when things have to come to an end, for several different reasons. Maybe the club needed a new boost, maybe the coach needed a new boost. It's normal, there's no need to make a drama about this. I'm hugely thankful for this club and we will go our separate ways. It's a spectacular time that is coming to an end."
Madrid lost its fourth straight match to Barcelona on Sunday, a 4-3 defeat after holding a two-goal lead, to see its title chances in the league virtually vanish. Madrid dropped seven points behind the Catalan club with three matches remaining. A loss or a draw against Mallorca on Wednesday would hand Barcelona the title. Barcelona visits city rival Espanyol on Thursday.
“We don't want to hand the league to our rival,” Ancelotti said. “We need to do well in these last three matches.”
Ancelotti is leaving after four mostly successful years in his second stint with Madrid, which won both the Champions League and the Spanish league last season.
Ancelotti also coached the club from 2013-2015. In total, he was in charge of Madrid in 350 matches and helped it win three Champions Leagues, three Club World Cups, two Spanish leagues, two Copa del Reys, three UEFA Super Cups and two Spanish Super Cups.
Madrid began the season by winning the UEFA Super Cup title but has mostly struggled since then. Many Madrid fans blamed Ancelotti for its relatively poor season, saying he lost control over the squad and wasn’t able to get the team ready for the clasicos against Barcelona.
He said he understood if fans were upset about him negotiating with Brazil during the season, but that such dealings were normal in soccer.
He admitted “not everything went perfectly,” but felt that fans would not soon forget some “wonderful nights at the Bernabeu” during his stint.
“I don’t regret anything. I’ve had a fantastic time here and I want to have a fantastic time in these last 15 days. I gave everything I could, and the titles speak for themselves,” Ancelotti said. “Yes, I wanted to win another Spanish league and another Champions League, but I’m very happy with what has been happening.”
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Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti, left, gives instructions during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti reacts during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti reacts during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti gives instructions during the La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, May 11, 2025. AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti reacts during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.
In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.
Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.
Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.
But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.
More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.
The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.
“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”
Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.
People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.
More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .
“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.
The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.
Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.
While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.
“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."
The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.
Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”
"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.
Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”
The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.
Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.
A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
