Carlo Ancelotti admits that Real Madrid struggled to get going against Elche, and that he trusts in Pepe’s view on the late penalty award.
Elche thought they had earned a point when Richmond Boakye’s header a minute into stoppages cancelled out Cristiano Ronaldo’s free-kick netted early in the second half.
However, deep into added on time, the match official controversially award edMadrid a spot-kick for a foul seen on Pepe.
That penalty, which Ronaldo converted to hand Los Blancos all three points, was the main topic post-match, as replays suggested the decision was contentious.
“It’s hard to talk about these situations because from the bench our position is not the best,” Ancelotti considered in his Press conference.
“Generally speaking I don’t like to talk about refereeing decisions. I spoke with Pepe and he told me it was a clear penalty.”
The Italian was asked of Gerard Pique’s posted message online calling the closing stages of the game a ‘comedy’.
“He has to think more about playing than talking. He is better on the pitch than off it.”
Beyond contention on how the game was won, Ancelotti admitted that he was not happy with how his team performed.
“I am not happy. We need to play differently. We suffered a lot during the match, particularly during the closing minutes of the match.
“The team controlled the match after Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal in the second half. The result is the most important thing, but it isn’t enough, we need to play better.
“We won’t win the derby if we play like we have done in this match, that’s why I think we need to improve, play with more intensity and personality.
“I don’t like to talk about the opposition, but they played well, they were well organised in defence. They were aggressive, compact and played with real intent at the end.
“I think that we are going to come across teams that defend well and are hard to break down. We need to come up with the different solutions.
“At the moment the team is playing slowly, there are no options between the lines and we play a lot down the wings and that makes it easy for the opposition’s defence.”
