Real Madrid missed a golden opportunity at the Benito Villamarín to take the lead and put pressure on Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona. The Whites took an early lead, but then made mistakes at the back and lacked punch in attack. Real Betis equalized before the break and former Madrid player Isco made it 2-1 from the penalty spot.
Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media after the defeat. The coach began by analyzing the Whites’ bad game: “It was a bad game. We started well, but we lacked attitude and commitment. We lost control of the game against a team that was better than us and deserved to win.” As to whether he is going to lose the league, he was clear: “This is a hard blow and we have to react. Losing at this point in the season is tough because everyone is on the ball. We didn’t do well in this game”.
“I’m not in the players’ heads. That’s what happened. We lacked continuity, we lost 27 balls in the first half,” he said, adding that ‘if we play like that we’re not going to win on Tuesday. Hopefully this game will wake us up. It seemed that the team was more compact and today we weren’t able to do it like in previous games,’ he said, already thinking about Tuesday’s Champions League match against Atlético Madrid.
Regarding the substitution of Mbappé, Ancelotti was clear: “He hasn’t trained much and he wasn’t at his best. That seemed clear. That’s why I brought on Endrick.” “The front line is there to press. In the first half we did it well and in the second half we did it badly,” he concluded.