Real Madrid pulled out a victory in extremis against Valencia on Friday night as they returned to action following the Christmas holidays. However there was little in the way of festive spirit in the dressing room.
According to Marca, manager Carlo Ancelotti was in disbelief at what he was seeing at half-time, as his side went into the break a goal down, due to the ‘apathy, laziness, lack of sacrifice and help for teammates’ from many of the players. The Italian manager raised his voice during his team talk, in what is described as the second moment of tension between him and his players this season. He reminded them that the lead of La Liga was on the line, but reproached the players for their negative attitude, and lack of work in defence.
The first moment of tension came after successive defeats to Barcelona and AC Milan, when Ancelotti called a team meeting to try to change the direction of the team. Despite defeats to Liverpool and Athletic Club, Ancelotti has been pleased with the reaction since. However against Valencia there were signs of the atttitude that saw Los Blancos into their first crisis of the season.
