Carlo Ancelotti Acknowledges Real Madrid's Defensive Problems Following AC Milan Defeat
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said his side lacked "solidity in defense" following the club's UEFA Champions League defeat to AC Milan.
Los Blancos were defeated 3-1 by Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Malick Thiaw, former Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata, and Tijjani Reijnders all scoring for the visitors. Notably, this is the club's second successive loss following their crushing 4-0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in the El Clasico earlier this month.
While speaking about his team's performance in today's post-match press conference, Ancelotti admitted that it was time to be concerned.
"We ought to be worried because the team has a great deal of potential and is not expressing that. We need to work on the foundations, because that is what’s missing here. When you are not solid in defence, games can get complicated at any moment. We were able to recover from these situations a few times, but you can’t do it every time."
- Carlo Ancelotti (H/T Football Italia)
The Italian manager also felt his team were "unbalanced on the counter attack," and that is something they will have to work on in training.
Ancelotti added that his team was "ineffective" in attack and squandered their opportunities. Still, he stressed that the biggest problem his team is facing at the moment is a lack of structure in defense.
Ancelotti Provides Updates On Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni
In a bizarre twist, Federico Valverde's partner blasted Ancelotti and Real Madrid's forwards on social media after Valverde was subbed off for Eduardo Camavinga at half-time. Ancelotti commented on Valverde, per Forbes, during the post-match press conference.
"Yesterday he trained well, but he felt that pain in the first half and we decided to substitute him"
- Carlo Ancelotti (H/T Forbes)
In addition to Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni was also brought off at the interval. During the first half, the French international was jeered by Real Madrid fans following a mistake that led to AC Milan's second goal.
Ancelotti doesn't feel the situation will emotionally affect Tchouameni's morale moving forward, pointing out that Real Madrid has a collective problem and not an individual one.
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