Ancelotti: “You can learn more from one defeat than from 10 wins in a row”

After Real Madrid suffered their first defeat of the season, Carlo Ancelotti discussed the loss in a particularly short post-match press conference. He didn’t want to blame a lack of attitude for the defeat and said: “No, it wasn’t because we relaxed too much. I didn’t see a lack of attitude. It was a set piece situation and then that made the game a lot more difficult and they could counter well. We did manage to get back into the match, but it wasn’t to be. We were going to lose at some point and it hurts because we wanted to win, but we can still finish first in the group. Sometimes you learn more from one defeat than from 10 wins in a row.”

Ancelotti on Courtois’ comments

However, Thibaut Courtois said in his post-game quotes that he did feel there was a lack of concentration. When the Belgian’s comments were put to the coach, he replied: “Each person can have their own opinion.”

Ancelotti on the rotations

Asked why he rotated so much for this game, Ancelotti said: “Well, first of all we had quite a lot of absences, so that was part of it. We played with many players who have performed this season.”