FC Barcelona suffered their first defeat against AS Monaco on Thursday night, getting their European campaign off to a dismal start. The match ended with an early red card following a mix-up between Marc-Andre ter Stegen And Eric Garciawhich resulted in the latter’s expulsion. Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti gave them some advice.
The topic of discussion in the Spanish capital was Ancelotti The Italian coach, however, told reporters on Friday that it was a question of balance and not the number of attackers or midfielders.
“The team’s objective is to be compact. If Vini, Kylian and Rodrygo try to press high and the midfielders don’t come up and the defence doesn’t come up… it’s not a problem for the three of them. I’m not saying they have to defend, but you have to get a little closer to the midfield. I understand that you think that the lack of balance is because the three at the front aren’t working, but that’s not the case because I’m not asking them to do the work of the midfielders and the defenders. I could put three defenders, but that’s what it’s called balance. There’s work without the ball and with the ball.”
Ancelotti also spoke about the high number of chances conceded by Los Blancos, with Stuttgart having 17 shots at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday. Again, Ancelotti contradicted the idea that Los Blancos do not defend well, highlighting their ability to build from the back.
“It’s a problem that we are evaluating, we have conceded goals and they have created too many chances for us. We have not known how to build from the back, which happened yesterday in Barcelona and cost them a red card. They have created chances against us because we have failed with the ball, not because of our positioning. I think that to avoid that, we must not defend better, but rather have the ball as far as possible. Sometimes the answer is a long ball.”
Los Blancos will face Espanyol on Saturday night at 21:00 CEST, where they will hope to reduce the deficit to Barcelona before their trip to Villarreal. They will then host Alaves, before travelling to the Metropolitano for the Madrid derby in a decisive match.
