Carlo Ancelotti said his Real Madrid “should be worried” after losing 3-1 at home to AC Milan in the Champions League, in their first match since losing 4-0 to Barcelona in El Clasico.
A Malick Thiaw header put Milan 1-0 up at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday before Vinícius Júnior equalized from a penalty and Álvaro Morata made it 2-1 Milan before the break.
Madrid pushed for an equalizer before Tijani Reijnders increased Milan's lead on the counterattack, making it two defeats for Madrid in four Champions League games.
“We should be worried because the team is not playing well,” Ancelotti told Movistar. “We have to be more solid, more compact. We have conceded many goals.”
The defeat leaves Madrid fighting in the middle of the table in the new phase of the Champions League, while in LaLiga they are already nine points behind the leader Barça.
“It's not about having patience or not, the reality is what you see on the field, which is that we are missing something,” Ancelotti said in his post-match press conference. “Worrying right now is normal. It will be a long night, but that's what we have to do, all think about improving things.
“We have conceded nine goals [in three games] And that's too much for a team that has built its strength on solidity.”
Ancelotti said that Madrid's attack, which featured Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Junior as two forwards against Milan, is not the problem.
“We had a lot of opportunities,” he said. “For me the problem is not that. We probably lacked precision, but the main problem we have to solve is the ease with which our rivals create opportunities.
“When you're not solid, you have to be more organized. You can't say my players are lazy, but right now we can't work together effectively.”
Ancelotti denied that the atmosphere in the Madrid locker room has suffered this season, since the summer arrival of star Mbappé.
“No, the locker room is healthy,” he said. “There will be a lot of criticism, about our attitude, about training… Whatever the critics think, we have to accept it. We are not doing well. We want to do better. This is how it is difficult to reach the end of the season.”
“Every year there are difficult moments in which you have to fight, fight, think. What is not normal is that this team has had a good streak and has fallen very quickly. That is part of football. When you think that everything is perfect, Falling, but the good thing about football is that you can react.”
“I think the last two defeats are inexplicable,” goalkeeper Andriy Lunin said. “We have to analyze it well and react. We have to recover.
“We understand that we are Madrid, that we always have to win, there are no excuses.”
Madrid host Osasuna in LaLiga on Saturday before the international break, while their next Champions League match will be at Liverpool on November 27.
