Real Madrid survived a late scare on Tuesday to defeat Alaves at the Santiago Bernabeu. The reigning La Liga champions had raced into a three-goal lead, but two late goals from the visitors made things very nervy – although not enough to force a draw.
Carlo Ancelotti gave his thoughts on the late collapse from his side when he spoke at his post-match press conference, as per MD.
“That’s football. A mistake is enough for there to give confidence to the rival team. It’s what happens and what will happen many times in football. We don’t want it to happen but it is possible. In the 60 minutes before, we played very well.”
Ancelotti was seen chatting rather furiously to referee Alejandro Muniz Ruiz after the full time whistle, after his side were shown six yellow cards during the 90 minutes. He gave his thoughts on the situation when asked by the media.
“The rules has changed and we have to get used to it. We’ve been given four or five yellow cards for protesting and we have to avoid it. We have to adapt.”
Kylian Mbappe asked to be substituted late on, having suffered a knock to his thigh. The Athletic’s Mario Cortegana has reported that he will undergo tests in the next 24 hours, although Ancelotti is not concerned.
“He’s okay. He’s a little sore. He asked for the substitution to avoid problems. He is already very well and so are we. The team has looked for many chances to score and I think the team is improving and that is good for us because the schedule is very demanding. We have started well after the break and we want to continue.”
Pruebas a Mbappé mañana o pasado por unas molestias en el muslo izquierdo. @TheAthleticFC
— Mario Cortegana (@MarioCortegana) September 24, 2024
Real Madrid still have three more matches before the next international break, so there will be a desire to have Mbappe available for those upcoming fixtures. Ancelotti will be keen to make sure that he is fit, although it cannot be confirmed until later in the week.