The director of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, admitted that if his team reproduced the limited display which had allowed them to lose against the real Betis on Saturday evening, they will suffer the same fate against Atletico Madrid during the huge equality of the Rabord of 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday.
The Italian coach watched his team took an early advance in Benito Villamarin this weekend before his former player, Isco, orchestrated a deserved return for the hosts. The stressed playmaker led the equalizer of Johnny Cardoso’s first half in a corner and marked the decisive penalty that forced Real Madrid to abandon more points.
The defeat on Saturday assured that the Spanish title champions only took five points out of the last 15 available in Liga – a series of bad shapes (and performance) which does not increase well with just days before the arrival of Atletico at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“If we play like that, we will not win,” admitted Ancelotti Apcellement after the match. “It’s quite clear, I hope it will be used to wake up. It seemed that the team was more compact as in previous matches.” Ancelotti’s hypothesis was correct. Madrid abandoned 17 shots against Betis – the greatest number of championship games this season.
“It’s a blow,” continued the veteran manager, “you have to react, it is difficult to lose at this stage of the season because all the teams are going. We have not done well in this match.” Ancelotti added: “We started well, but we could not maintain the level, commitment and attitude. They deserved to win.”
Jude Bellingham was forced to look at the sidelines as he continued to serve his ban to serve a Liga official, but Ancelotti could call on Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe and Rodrygo. Brahim Diaz was the player to give visitors a tenth minute lead and the Madrid manager actively distinguished the poor defensive work rate of his front line. “When you are good, you put pressure on the ball when leaving and we did it first half, but the other 70 minutes, bad.”
Atletico Madrid capitalized on the shift of their neighbors, making their way to a 1-0 victory against Athletic Club on Saturday evening, which brought them to the top of the Liga table. Diego Simeone’s team is undefeated in its last four derbies in Madrid, with the two games in the league between the two clubs in the capital this season ending in 1-1.
