At the top of the table, Real Madrid's 2-1 win over Valencia involved all the drama a neutral could wish for, but Carlo Ancelotti was far less pleased with events at the Mestalla. While clearly pleased with the reaction, the Italian referred to his first-half performance as “tremendously bad”.
Los Che went in front after 27 minutes through Hugo Duro, but gave up three clear chances before, and had Thibaut Courtois to thank that was no more.
“It is difficult to explain how bad we were in the first half and how good we were in the second, and with one less man. Three points are deserved, but we cannot see these two faces. The first half was tremendously bad, the second part was tremendously good with ten”.
In the second half, Real Madrid responded, and missed a penalty and had a goal disallowed before ending up on the scoresheet in the 85th minute.
“It bothers me that we missed three penalties, I think I have to take the responsibility of choosing who will take it.”
Jude Bellingham he missed the penalty, and combined with Kylian Mbappe's two misses against Athletic Club and Liverpool, gave him an unwanted record. In the end, it was Bellingham that saved them with a purpose and assist though.
“It was a great game for him, he didn't lose faith after missing the penalty, it gave him extra motivation. Only he can have the last 30 minutes he did. He made an extraordinary effort. It's a reward deserved for the game he played.”
Eduardo Camavinga came to left-back and caused Los Che a lot of problems from there, but Ancelotti he did not see this as the turning point in the match.
“The game was changed before. Mendy played his game, he had a good game, with Vinicius out, we need something more inside. And Camavinga played a good game, he has different characteristics.
Real Madrid are next in action in the Copa del Rey on Monday as they travel to Deportiva Minera, before a long trip to Saudi Arabia for the Spanish Supercup. It remains to be seen whether
