Carlo Ancelotti in dig at Luis Enrique over Lionel Messi substitution?

Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Liverpool carries them into Saturday's match with Barcelona at the Bernabeu on an eight-game winning run, during which they have hit the back of the net on 35 occasions. 

But despite their insatiable attitude of late and the impending nature of the Clasico, Carlo Ancelotti is still reluctant to look ahead to the visit of the Catalans.  

"First of all we need to get back to Madrid, rest up and recover," the Italian said. 

"We don't have much time [to prepare]. We will get back home and we have to hope we have no problems and that we be competitive on Saturday.

"Of course, though, we are in a good moment, we have focus and we are reaching this stage of the season in great shape physically, but Barca are also in a good position. 

"We're where we want to be, though."

As was the case with Lionel Messi and Neymar in Barcelona's win over Ajax on Tuesday night, Cristiano Ronaldo was afforded a break in the latter stages at Anfield with the match effectively over.

Ancelotti said the Portuguese player had no problem with the decision and that the rest will do him good - perhaps in a slight dig at Luis Enrique, who asked Messi if he wanted to go off against Eibar and was given a negative response.

"I didn't consult with him about coming off when he was in the pitch, that's not something you do," the Madrid boss explained.

"We took him off to avoid problems because he's played a lot. He'd worked really hard, working up and down the line really well, so it was the right time to give him a rest."

Ancelotti also refused to criticise defender Pepe for swapping shirts with Liverpool's Mario Balotelli at half time.

Brendan Rodgers said he would deal with his Italian striker internally for the incident, but Ancelotti took a different stance on the subject and stated that he "does not see why it would be a problem".