Real Madrid had another defeat, this time in the hands of Espanyol in a very complicated match. It was initially thought that the match against Espanyol could be a point where Real would return to the positive results but that did not happen. Espanyol played a great game and also took advantage from the current condition of the white team. After the match, Carlo Ancelotti answered questions for the media in the press room of the RCD Stadium following the negative result of LaLiga’s matchday eight.
Ancelotti appeared worried in front of the press. In an honest reflection on the game, Ancelotti was clear that Real Madrid deserved nothing from the game and that it hadn't gone according to plan. If the Champions League loss to Sheriff could be dismissed as bad luck or a mere slip-up, the defeat at the RCDE Stadium was far more concerning.
Accepting the bad moment that the team is having, the Italian coach said: “Today's defeat was no accident. We didn't play well and we deserved to lose. The reaction came too late and we're worried because two consecutive defeats isn't normal for this team. We need to turn this around and work on the mistakes we made today as well”.
He continued: “I agree. We played poorly. There's not really much to say, we didn't play well. We started with a plan and following the goal we weren't able to stay calm and stick to that plan. There was confusion on the pitch. The team were not well set up with or without the ball. I have to be honest, it's our worst performance. Now we've got the international break and in this situation, it's better to play again quickly, straight away, but we'll have to use the break to reflect and see how the team's attitude has changed and move on".
The set up: "The way we set up was pretty clear. I'm not here to explain the set up to you, but I agree that the team looked disorganized. We didn't have the right balance in possession and we have to put that right. I've already spoken about it with the players and they agree. We tried to do our thing but not in an aggress ive way, we lost a lot of duels, we weren't very direct on the ball. I'm referring to the technical and tactical parts of our performance".
Alaba as a full-back: "I thought he could help in the attacking side of things. He did, he pushed forward a lot. There were moments when we weren't balanced on that side, but it wasn't his fault. The midfield has to cover positions and sometimes we weren't in the right places".
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