Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti said that his team was disappointed on Saturday night because it believed it could win the Madrid derby drawn 1-1 in the Bernabeu.
Los Blancos went behind to a Julian Alvarez penalty in the first half but were much better following the interval, which is when Kylian Mbappe equalized.
“The second half went well, the team is disappointed because they believe they deserved to win – we were close. But we must be happy, we are still leaders after an intense week and now we have a calmer week until Tuesday,” he said, in a nod to the Champions League play offs first leg against Manchester City.
Ancelotti felt that his team “had total control” in the second half, but “the first half was different, much slower”.
“We came out of the game with good feelings. The penalty situation affected the team. Before we played too slowly, in the second half we played with more width, Vinicius and Rodrygo created a lot of danger,” Ancelotti added.
As for the spot kick itself, given because of a perceived stamp from Aurelien Tchouameni on Samuel Lino in the box, Ancelotti said: “The VAR blew the penalty, [but] the referee was close to the situation and saw what happened. I saw that the VAR whistled a similar penalty in Athletic Club against Girona. The people of football do not understand this.”
Asked if the sport is being destroyed, Ancelotti insisted: “I don’t want to get into the controversy. I prefer to talk about the match. We came out of the game with a draw, encouraged. The team was good, especially in the second half.”
“The team was good, everyone sacrificed, they recovered in a game that was complicated. Atletico defended and counterattacked, at the back they were very good. Tchouameni played a great game and we were close to winning,” he further remarked.
Praising Dani Ceballos for playing “very well as usual”, Ancelotti stated that he will have to “see how the team has recovered” for Tuesday when it travels to the Etihad.
“This scheme can be valid,” he said about his tactical set up and formation. “We made two lines of four and it has gone quite well. I don’t remember having suffered chances beyond the penalty,” he concluded.