“I’m not happy today. I think we could have done much better,” coach Ancelotti expressed his disappointment after the 1-1 draw between Real Madrid and Mallorca at home at the Bernabeu.
Ancelotti claimed Real Madrid players lacked concentration after taking the lead through Rodrygo in the 13th minute, but Mallorca salvaged a point thanks to Vedat Muriqi’s header in the 53rd minute.
Striker Mbappe failed to score in his La Liga debut (Photo: Reuters).
Even in the 90+7 minute, Real Madrid defender Ferland Mendy was sent off for a nasty tackle on Mallorca’s Muriqi. Following this draw, Real Madrid was positioned 13th in La Liga following Round 1.
“We should have played more focused, connected better. It’s not a physical problem, it’s a mental problem.
I do not want to make any excuses. We have to perform better and be more determined. This game provides us with numerous opportunities to learn. “This is a game where you can clearly see where we can make mistakes,” stated coach Ancelotti. The Italian tactician was particularly critical of Real Madrid’s defence, saying his team needed to be more disciplined due to a system that featured four attackers such as Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham up front.
“We started the game well, took the lead and had chances to score a second goal, but in the second half we lacked balance.
Coach Ancelotti is dissatisfied with Real Madrid’s performance (Photo: Getty). Real Madrid may have lost the game if they hadn’t maintained their equilibrium. It was not a good game. We are a strong attacking side, and balance in defence is an important aspect of how we develop our team. We struggled to get the ball back and press after losing it. However, the defence has to perform effectively under this system. The equilibrium is only established when the participants collaborate. When we have to win the ball back, we have to think about everything together. This is a problem for everyone, not just the strikers, midfielders or defenders. This is an issue for a team that hasn’t achieved a decent balance between the lines,” Ancelotti said.