Real Madrid Manager Carlo Ancelotti has rejected the idea that he changed Jude Bellingham’s position in the Madrid derby, which ended in a frustrating defeat to Atletico Madrid.
The Italian coach opted to drop Joselu Mato from the starting line-up for the first time since Matchday 3, when Vinicius Junior went down injured, tinkering with a winning formula.
Ancelotti was willing to take the blame for the defeat after the match, as his side struggled to break down the Atletico defence.
“It’s possible that I could have done things better. That’s pretty clear. Usually when the team doesn’t do what you want it to, it is obviously my responsibility.”
“But it’s no problem, I have broad shoulders, I take responsibility, there’s no problem.”
However he didn’t feel that he switched the formation, rather he reconfigured it only defensively.
“The formation didn’t change, because we played with the diamond. We played with Modric as an attacking midfielder, with Bellingham and Rodrygo as forwards.”
"The formation didn't change, because we played with the diamond."
"I didn't change the position of Bellingham from the offensive perspective, only in the defensively, he just had to move a little further forward, I don't think it was a problem."
– Carlo Ancelotti #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/gVnbfprnFv
— Football España (@footballespana_) September 25, 2023
“It was a problem, as I said, of defensive fragility. We didn’t have that in the first games, and we have only conceded three, today they practically scored three in 45 minutes. We were fragile, we can say that without any problems, it’s nothing to do with individuals, we didn’t defend as we usually do. We weren’t compact, above all in the first half, and Atletico took advantage.”
Bellingham on the face of it was playing further forward without the ball, but clearly Modric was not the furthest forward point of attack either.
“I didn’t change the position of Bellingham from the offensive perspective, only defensively, he just had to move a little further forward, I don’t think it was a problem.”
He would go on to say again he believed the issue was to do with their defensive weakness rather than offensive struggles.
Nevertheless, Los Blancos’ attack was effectively stymied by Atletico. Diego Simeone pointed out that in his view, Joselu’s absence was a major help to their defensive effort, although he was brought on at half-time. Either way, Real Madrid’s injuries are hurting them significantly, with Ancelotti perhaps making stranger choices to work around them.
