Carlo Ancelotti frustrated with Real Madrid’s defending in draw at Mallorca

MALLORCA – Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was critical of his team’s lack of balance and bad defending in a 1-1 draw at Mallorca in their La Liga season opener on Aug 18.

The Italian said his players lacked focus after taking an early lead through Rodrygo in the 13th minute, as Mallorca rescued a point with a Vedat Muriqi header after the break.

“Today I am not happy. I think we could have done much better,” a visibly frustrated Ancelotti told a press conference.

“We need to be more concentrated, work better as a group... It’s not a fitness problem, it was mental.

“I don’t want to make excuses for anything. We had to do better and show more attitude. We can learn a lot from this match, it’s a match where you can see clearly where we can end up having problems.”

Ancelotti was especially critical of his team’s defending, saying that he needs a more disciplined performance due to a system with four attackers – Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham – up front.

He suggested that Real could have easily lost due to their own blunders and urged his players to learn fast from their mistakes.

“We started the game well, we took the lead and we had chances to score the second, but in the second half we lacked balance,” Ancelotti said.

“It was a game we could have lost because we didn’t have balance.

“It wasn’t a good game. We are a very attacking team and defensive balance is a fundamental part of the way we are built.

“We struggled to steal the ball, to press after losing the ball. When we talk about defending, we are talking above all about collective commitment.

“The balance is found with the players thinking about the same thing. When we have to win the ball back, we have to think about it all together.

“It’s a problem for everyone, not the strikers, the midfielders or the defenders. It is a problem of a team that did not understand that this was a key aspect of the match.”

Real opened the scoring early in the first half, when Vinicius rolled the ball backwards for Rodrygo to collect in the area and the winger bent a shot into the far corner, beyond the reach of goalkeeper Dominik Greif.

Mallorca levelled early in the second half, with burly Kosovo striker Muriqi powering a header home from Dani Rodriguez’s corner.

“I’m so tired but it was worth it,” said Muriqi.

“It was so important to get a point against a team like Madrid, maybe the best in the world.

“I have to be honest, scoring against Madrid is so beautiful.”

Los Blancos defender Ferland Mendy was sent off in stoppage time for a high challenge on Muriqi. REUTERS, AFP