Ancelotti: “We played as individuals and not as a team today”

Following Real Madrid’s 4-2 defeat at Girona, Carlo Ancelotti was very critical of the whole team and the way they didn’t play as a united front at the Estadi Montiliv. He analysed the game as so: “It’s never good to lose, but maybe this loss can be a wake-up call. It was a tough night. Defensively, we were bad and that’s the key to the game. With the ball we did quite well, but we weren’t convincing in our defensive duels to stop their counter attacks. That’s the simple explanation. Of our last seven games, we had six clean sheets. Today, we conceded four because we didn’t have defensive commitment. When we do have that, we can win every game. We thought the half-time break could allow us to reset, but then we conceded again straight away. We tried to come back as individuals and not as a team. We weren’t a team today. And, individually, almost everyone except a few exceptions were below their usual level today. We apologise to the fans.”

Ancelotti on Vinícius’ performance

Vinícius wasn’t one of the players who Ancelotti was referring to, as the coach praised the Brazilian, even if he wasn’t happy with the way he was almost sent off. The Italian said: “Vinícius was good individually with his goal and assist. He collects too many yellow cards for a player of his characteristics.”

Ancelotti on the substitution of Nacho

Discussing the decision to replace Nacho with Eduardo Camavinga, Ancelotti was asked if this was because he was disappointed with the Spaniard’s performance. He responded: “No, Nacho was substituted off to introduce Camavinga, who has different characteristics and who can push forward more. It wasn’t a way of reproaching Nacho. It wasn’t his best game, but that was the case for many.”