Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said that the criticism following his team’s 1-0 Champions League upset loss to Lille was “fair”.
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“Everything was quite bad”
Kylian Mbappe made his return from injury for Madrid in France as a substitute.
However, Jonathan David’s penalty was the only goal scored in the game after Eduardo Camavinga’s handball had been spotted by the VAR.
Jude Bellingham, Antonio Rudiger, and Arda Guler had their chances late in the game, but failed to capitalize.
“The opponent played better, and deserved to win,” Ancelotti said in his post-match news conference. “In terms of duels, intensity, consistency. We have to learn what we have to improve, which is quite obvious, it isn’t very complicated.”
“Today everything was quite bad. We were bad with the ball. It was hard for us to win the ball back. It was hard for us to transition. We needed to be more aggressive.”
“The feeling today is that it was hard for us to create. Our possession of the ball was quite slow, with few ideas. We have forwards who need to play more vertically. If it’s hard for you to control the ball, and it gets to the forwards slowly, it’s a problem.”
Criticism following Real Madrid shocking loss to Lille all “fair”
Madrid is currently in 17th place in the 36-team table.
The defeat also marked Madrid’s first loss in 36 matches across all competitions — dating back in January 18 against Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey.
On a brighter note, Endrick made his first Champions League start.
The Brazilian youngster became the youngest Madrid player to start a Champions League match, breaking Raul Gonzalez’s record at 18 years and 73 days old.
“The sadness comes from the feeling of the team, that it wasn’t a good game,” Ancelotti said. “It wasn’t a good night, we shouldn’t look for excuses, we have to improve.
“I’m very honest. Criticism for today’s game is fair, correct, we have to accept it.”
