Ancelotti: "We're hurt and it's a hard and difficult time"
1 week(s)
Carlo Ancelotti appeared in the press room at the Santiago Bernabéu after the first Clásico of the season: "At 0-0 it was an even game and we played with intensity in the first half. We could have scored, but we didn't. We had our chances to take the lead. After they scored we lost our momentum. Then they had space at 0-2, we had to take risks with one-on-ones at the back and they created several chances on the counter. We looked good in the first half and we have to continue in that vein. We are hurt, it's a hard and difficult moment."
"I would like to thank the fans because they helped us and pushed us throughout the 90 minutes. We have to keep working. We can't throw anything away just yet. The team competed for 60 minutes, but we have to forget the last 30 minutes. It was something special because we wanted to get the game back. The season is long, we can't give up and we have to learn from this defeat. We learned from the last one and we can apply the same theory now. Now we have to overcome the deficit because the season is long with a lot of games. We can do better and I'm sure we will."
Missed chances
"We were unable to take advantage of their high pressure. Mbappé came close to scoring, sometimes he was offside, but it's normal with such an outfacing defence. He had three or four chances where he could have scored. Then something happened with the assistant, not with Flick. The assistant wasn't a gentleman after celebrating in front of our bench. I said that to Flick and he agreed."
The first half"In the first half we followed the approach we played against Dortmund. We tried to press high, in the end it was difficult for them to come out with the ball and we had chances with Mbappé and Vinicius. The idea was to press more and we did that for 60 minutes. It's a tough and difficult moment when you lose and especially when you've gone 42 games unbeaten."
Approach
"The result doesn't reflect what happened on the pitch. They deserved to win. We could have taken the lead, but they did and grew in confidence. Until the first goal, the game was even and we had more chances. Our system was a 4-4-2 pressing up front and we did well in the first half."
Offside
"Barça have forced 65 offsides so far in LaLiga and we were caught out 12 times. We knew that, but we also had four one-on-ones with the goalkeeper. Unfortunately we didn't score.
Self-criticism
"We have to look at what happened.You learn a lot of things from a defeat, self-criticism is fundamental and we have to do it, but we mustn't throw everything away. The team's first half was good and I'm not wrong about that, I've been coaching for 48 years."
Different defeat to Lille
"It's a tough moment against a team that is top of the league. It's a different defeat to the one in Lille. We didn't compete there and we played badly. Today the result weighed a lot because we took risks with the one-on-one at the back trying to get back into the game. Today's defeat is different from the one in Lille."
Learning from the defeat
"I've been worried about the defeat. We have to pick ourselves up quickly and correct the mistakes of the second half. We have to keep competing and fighting. We will continue to do so this season as we did last season. In the last defeat against Barcelona with 4-0 we won the league and the Champions League. We won't be far off last season's achievements."
"The defence in the first half was good, positioned and aggressive. When Modric came on I decided to play one on one to take a risk, we lost the duels and they scored more goals."
Line to follow
"In August the problem was different because the team lacked intensity and energy. Today they had energy and pressed high. This is the line we have to follow. The problem is that when you concede two goals you have to take risks. We could have opened up the game at 2-1 but it didn't happen. The problem was that we didn't continue with the intensity we had in the first half. When they score the dynamic changed and when that happens there can also be a psychological problem."