Carlo Ancelotti has criticised his Real Madrid side's “attitude” and “collective commitment” after the LaLiga champions drew 1-1 at Mallorca in their opening game of the 2024-25 season.
Rodrygo put Madrid ahead in the 13th minute at Son Moix, following a passing play involving Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Vinícius Júnior, before Vedat Muriqi equalised for Mallorca with a header in the second half.
Madrid failed to find a late winner and defender Ferland Mendy was sent off in added time, frustrating coach Ancelotti.
“In the second half we lacked balance,” said Ancelotti in the post-match press conference. “We gave away counterattacks, crosses. It was not a good game. We have to defend better and, above all, have more balance on the pitch.”
“We are not happy today. I don't want to make excuses. We just had to do better, with more attitude. But we can learn a lot from this game, it was clear where we had problems.”
Madrid won LaLiga last season, finishing 10 points ahead of nearest rivals Barcelona, and have since signed star striker Mbappe on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain.
Mbappé played the full 90 minutes against Mallorca and took four shots, two of them on goal, without being able to score.
Ancelotti praised Mallorca, coached by new manager Jagoba Arrasate, and described the draw as “the right result”.
“The defence was not good, we struggled to recover the ball after losing it,” said Ancelotti. “That's where we have to improve. When I talk about defence, I'm talking about attitude and collective commitment.”
“The team has been too open. We need to focus more, as we usually do, with more concentration, to be more together. People might think it's a problem for the forwards, but when the forwards press, the midfielders don't help and the defenders stay back. It's not one thing or the other.”
Madrid won their first trophy of the season on Wednesday by beating Atalanta 2-0 to lift the UEFA Super Cup in Warsaw.
The next LaLiga match will be against Real Valladolid on August 25, before visiting Las Palmas four days later.
