Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti was clearly angry with his players and their 2-1 defeat to … [+] Real Betis on Saturday in La Liga, and said that this “isn’t the way to win on Tuesday” against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
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Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti was clearly angry with his players and their 2-1 defeat to Real Betis in La Liga on Saturday, and said “if we play like this we won’t win on Tuesday” against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
The visitors went 1-0 up inside 10 minutes at the Estadio Benito Villamarin after Brahim Diaz terminated a well-executed move which also involved Kylian Mbappe and Ferland Mendy.
Approaching the interval, however, Johnny Cardoso equalized with a header prior to former Madrid star Isco converting a penalty early in the second half.
The defeat meant that FC Barcelona can go three points clear in the title race if it beats Real Sociedad in Montjuic on Saturday afternoon, with Ancelotti hoping that the setback serves as a wake up call for a UCL last 16 clash with Atleti at the Bernabeu midweek.
“We started well, but we were not able to maintain the initial rhythm – both in terms of attitude and commitment. We got out of control against a team that played better and deserved to win,” Ancelotti confessed post-match.
Reminded that Madrid has only won five of its last 15 points on offer in the league, Ancelotti called this latest loss “a hard blow”.
“We have to react. Losing at this point is very expensive, because all the teams are racing [for the title]
and we… We didn’t do well in this game.”
On whether there was a lack of a collective effort, Ancelotti admitted: “I don’t know. I’m not in the players’ heads.”
“But what happened is this: the initial rhythm, the good positioning of the first 20 minutes – we lost it. Then, little by little, we started to lose the ball… 27 [balls]
in the first half! That’s too many losses.”
“If we play like this we won’t win on Tuesday, it’s quite clear,” Ancelotti warned about a much anticipated meeting with Diego Simeone’s intense crosstown troops, who came back from 4-2 down to draw with Barca in the Copa del Rey semifinals earlier this week.
“Hopefully this will help us to wake up. It seemed that in recent times we were tidy, compact and we were not able to do it [today].”
Ancelotti brought Kylian Mbappe off because he “hadn’t trained much and wasn’t at his best”.
“It was obvious, so to avoid problems I preferred to remove him and put Endrick in. Mbappe has trained little and was not at his 100%,” Ancelotti concluded.
