Carlo Ancelotti responds to Thibaut Courtois criticism after RB Leipzig loss

Real Madrid are looking to respond to their first defeat of the season on Sunday following their 3-2 loss in Germany against RB Leipzig. They take on Girona at 16:15 CEST on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

They will be doing so without Karim Benzema, which is slowly becoming a common feature of the season for Real Madrid. The French forward is not feeling 100%, despite medically being fully recovered from his muscle fatigue.

However that was not the reason for their defeat on Tuesday. After the match, Thibaut Courtois was particularly frustrated. He accused his side of being asleep at the start of the match and called it “unacceptable.”

During his pre-match press conference, Carlo Ancelotti was asked what he though of that ‘ferocious criticism’.

“What Thibaut said, it didn’t seem to me like a ferocious criticism. He said we need to be more aggressive and more concentrated. It was fair, it was not a ferocious criticism.”

Ancelotti had said after the match that his side was not lacking in attitude. He also remarked that “Sometimes you learn more from one defeat and than ten wins in a row.”

Thus, Ancelotti was asked what Real Madrid had learned from the Leipzig match. Marca streamed the press conference.

“That we always have to be focused from the very start. You have to prepare it as if it’s your last game, as if you have no advantage. Prepare as if it was the last game of the season, where you have to win titles. Sometimes at this stage of the season, when you play every three days, it is more difficult to recover physically and always have high motivation.”

Ancelotti will no doubt be looking for a response from his side. Even without Benzema, Real Madrid are facing a side in the relegation zone. Only four teams have a worse defensive record than Girona, but perhaps Ancelotti will be more keen to see a clean sheet.