Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti hopes that the short time he has had with his players after their surprising loss in the Champions League will be enough for them to start winning again.
As they get ready to play Villarreal in LaLiga on Saturday, Ancelotti said that Wednesday’s defeat was a wake-up call. A penalty from Jonathan David gave Lille a 1-0 victory, ending Real Madrid’s 36-game unbeaten streak.
“Villarreal are doing really well, and tomorrow is a chance for us to get back to playing good football,” Ancelotti said in a press conference on Friday.
“The mood is fine, as always. The loss on Wednesday is an opportunity if we take it and react well. We are self-critical. Sometimes you need to refocus, and we need to do it quickly.
“Sometimes when you win a lot, you might think you can’t lose, but a defeat brings you back to reality. We are still not at our best. Some players aren’t performing well. We are not far from where we want to be, but we need to improve our defense and move the ball better in attack.”
After a great season last year where they won both LaLiga and the Champions League, Real Madrid is currently second in the Spanish league with 18 points, three points behind Barcelona and one point ahead of Villarreal.
Ancelotti expects Kylian Mbappe to return to the starting lineup after he missed the last match against Atletico and came off the bench at Lille due to a hamstring injury. This injury led the French national coach Didier Deschamps to leave him out of the squad for upcoming international matches against Israel and Belgium.
“He seems to have solved his problem and has trained normally,” Ancelotti said.
“I don’t get involved in what national coaches do. Deschamps decided not to call him. We need to get the ball to our strikers faster, and we need to improve our defense.”