In the opening match of the La Liga season on Sunday, Real Madrid drew 1-1 against Mallorca. Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of the squad, was unhappy with the team's absence of balance and poor defense. He also commented on two-three forwards all playing on left wing. Carlo Ancelotti said, "Either Vinicius or Kylian Mbappé will play on the left wing. I have to choose. Only one will play there.”
After giving up an early advantage through Rodrygo during the 13th minute and letting Mallorca salvage a point through a header from Vedat Muriqi in the second half, Ancelotti claimed his team had lost concentration.
Carlo Ancelotti spoke during the post-match press-conference. He said, “Today I am not happy. I think we could have been done much better. We need to be more concentrated, work better as a group... It’s not a fitness problem, it was mental. I don’t want to make excuses for anything. We had to do better and show more attitude. We can learn a lot from this match, it’s a match where you can see clearly where we can end up having problems.”
"We struggled to steal the ball" : Carlo Ancelotti
Ancelotti was particularly critical of his team's defense, stating that his style, which features four offensive players up front in Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo, and Jude Bellingham, requires a more disciplined performance. He emphasized that Real's own errors might have easily cost them the match, and he pushed his players to quickly grow from their errors on Saturday.
The former Everton manager added that, “We started the game well, we took the lead and we had chances to score the second, but in the second half we lacked balance. It was a game we could have lost because we didn’t have balance. It wasn’t a good game. We are a very attacking team and defensive balance is a fundamental part of the way we are built."
He concluded by saying that, “We struggled to steal the ball, to press after losing the ball. When we talk about defending, we are talking above all about collective commitment. The balance is found with the players thinking about the same thing. When we have to win the ball back we have to think about it all together.”
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'Everyone wants left-wing' - Fans react as Carlo Ancelotti comments on his left-wing choice at Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti was visibly frustrated during the post-match press conference and made a bold comment on Real Madrid's primary left-wing option.
In the opening match of the La Liga season on Sunday, Real Madrid drew 1-1 against Mallorca. Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of the squad, was unhappy with the team's absence of balance and poor defense. He also commented on two-three forwards all playing on left wing. Carlo Ancelotti said, "Either Vinicius or Kylian Mbappé will play on the left wing. I have to choose. Only one will play there.”
After giving up an early advantage through Rodrygo during the 13th minute and letting Mallorca salvage a point through a header from Vedat Muriqi in the second half, Ancelotti claimed his team had lost concentration.
Carlo Ancelotti spoke during the post-match press-conference. He said, “Today I am not happy. I think we could have been done much better. We need to be more concentrated, work better as a group... It’s not a fitness problem, it was mental. I don’t want to make excuses for anything. We had to do better and show more attitude. We can learn a lot from this match, it’s a match where you can see clearly where we can end up having problems.”
"We struggled to steal the ball" : Carlo Ancelotti
Ancelotti was particularly critical of his team's defense, stating that his style, which features four offensive players up front in Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo, and Jude Bellingham, requires a more disciplined performance. He emphasized that Real's own errors might have easily cost them the match, and he pushed his players to quickly grow from their errors on Saturday.
The former Everton manager added that, “We started the game well, we took the lead and we had chances to score the second, but in the second half we lacked balance. It was a game we could have lost because we didn’t have balance. It wasn’t a good game. We are a very attacking team and defensive balance is a fundamental part of the way we are built."
He concluded by saying that, “We struggled to steal the ball, to press after losing the ball. When we talk about defending, we are talking above all about collective commitment. The balance is found with the players thinking about the same thing. When we have to win the ball back we have to think about it all together.”