Coach Real Madrid – Carlo Ancelotti reacts after the heavy loss to local rival Atletico:
It is an easy game to sum up. They were deserved winners in every aspect of the match: fighting spirit, quality of play, organisation, second balls… We were a mess and lost all our aerial battles. None of our players had a good game”.
“I have to look at this coldly and accept responsibility for this game. This is the worst game we’ve had since I’ve been here. We have to review what has happened but we mustn’t forget that we’re still top of La Liga. It was a terrible performance but I’m not going to make a big fuss about it. I have a lot of faith in these players”.
Atlético’s performance
“They were a lot better than us but we’ll see who is on top at the end of the La Liga season. They deserved to win this game. They were better than us in every way, it made sense that they won. The season is very long and this La Liga will be decided at the end of the campaign. That was our worst performance and all the players are very aware of that”.
“Everyone has to accept responsibility, first of all the manager. That was not a normal Real Madrid performance. I won’t be forgetting this game. We didn’t pass the ball around, pressure the opposition or counter-attack well today. We didn’t have anything today. I’ll try to rectify things quickly and will accept my share of the responsibility”.
The starting XI
“It was the most logical starting line-up we could have named for this game. Khedira was there for dead ball situations, which made sense. What really surprised me was the poor attitude and our lack of drive shown by the players and the rest of us”.
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