Carlo Ancelotti explains to Barcelona's Eric Garcia and Marc-Andre ter Stegen how to prevent red card mistakes
Barcelona suffered their first defeat against AS Monaco on Thursday night, who have started their European campaign in terrible fashion. The game changed on a first red card after a scuffle in between Marc-André ter Stegen and Eric Garciawhich ended with the last orders. Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti had a word of advice for them.
The talking point in the Spanish capital has been Ancelotti potentially drop one of their forwards and return to a 4-4-2 formation, with Bellingham the link between the midfield and forwards. However, the Italian coach told the press on Friday that it was about balance, not the number of attackers or midfielders.
“The goal of the team is to be compact. If Vini, Kylian and Rodrygo try to press high and the midfielders don't go up and the defense doesn't go up… it's not a problem for the three of them. I'm not saying that they they have to defend, but we have to get a little closer to the distance with the midfield. I understand that your thinking that the lack of balance is because the three at the top are not working, but it is not the case because we do not ask them not to do the work of midfielders and defenders. He could put three defenders, but it is called balance for that. There is work without the ball.”
Meanwhile he also addressed the high number of chances conceded by Los Blancos, with Stuttgart firing 17 times at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday. There too, Ancelotti contradicts the idea that they do not defend well, pointing to their build-up from the back.
“It is a problem that we evaluate, we conceded and they created too many opportunities for us. We failed to build from the back, which happened yesterday in Barcelona that cost them the red card. They created chances against us because we failed with the ball, not because of our position. I think that to avoid this does not mean that we have to defend better, but rather to make the ball as long as possible. Sometimes a long ball is the answer.”
Los Blancos face Espanyol on Saturday night at 21:00 CEST, where they will be hoping to put Barcelona back to one before their trip to Villarreal. They will then host Alaves, before traveling to the Metropolitano for the Madrid derby in a crunch match.
