Ancelotti bemoans ´lack of balance´ in Real Madrid´s LaLiga opener

Carlo Ancelotti criticised his Real Madrid side for having a lack of balance as they started their LaLiga title defence with a 1-1 draw against Mallorca on Sunday.

Madrid took the lead in the 13th minute through Rodrygo’s fine finish, only for Vedat Muriqi to level eight minutes into the second half.

Ancelotti boasted an attack of Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham, with the quartet all playing a role in the opening goal of the game.

But Los Blancos struggled in front of goal, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 0.6 from their 13 shots, compared to their opponents’ 0.96.

Ancelotti bemoaned his side’s defensive display, going on to say that his players lost focus after taking an early lead at the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix.

“Today I am not happy. I think we could have been done much better,” said Ancelotti.

“We need to be more concentrated, work better as a group… It’s not a fitness problem, it was mental.

“I don’t want to make excuses for anything. We had to do better and show more attitude.

“We can learn a lot from this match, it’s a match where you can see clearly where we can end up having problems.”

@RCD_Mallorca 1-1 @RealMadrid
13′ @RodrygoGoes
53′ Muriqi#MallorcaRealMadrid | @emirates pic.twitter.com/bWGN7zpiYC

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) August 18, 2024

Madrid’s draw saw them fail to win their first game of the season for the first time in six campaigns under Ancelotti’s stewardship.

The Italian suggested that Madrid could have easily lost the encounter due to their own mistakes and urged his star-studded squad to learn fast from their blunders.

“We started the game well, we took the lead and we had chances to score the second, but in the second half we lacked balance,” Ancelotti said.

“It was a game we could have lost because we didn’t have balance. It wasn’t a good game.

“We are a very attacking team and defensive balance is a fundamental part of the way we are built.

“We struggled to steal the ball, to press after losing the ball. When we talk about defending, we are talking above all about collective commitment.

“The balance is found with the players thinking about the same thing. When we have to win the ball back we have to think about it all together.

“It’s a problem for everyone, not the strikers, the midfielders or the defenders.

“It is a problem of a team that did not understand that this was a key aspect of the match.”