Ancelotti talks Vinicius, Courtois, penalties, title race after Real Madrid 1-2 Valencia – ‘Much more difficult’ | OneFootball

Real Madrid suffered a tragic blow to their title hopes following a shocking 2-1 defeat at the hands of Valencia.

It was a dismal performance from Los Blancos, who lacked any kind of momentum and conceded a winner from Valencia during injury time to lose three crucial points.

What Ancelotti said after Real Madrid’s defeat to Valencia

Speaking to the media after the game, Ancelotti notably talked about the impact of this result in the title race, with Barcelona now emerging as the firm favourites.

“It’s much more difficult to fight for the league title now, but we’re determined to do well until the end. We have a chance, less so after this match, but we have to fight until the end,” he said (h/t Diario AS).

Thanks to Real Madrid’s defeat, Barcelona now have an opportunity to extend their lead at the top to six points, provided they secure a victory against Real Betis later tonight.

Ancelotti was also asked about Vinicius Junior’s missed penalty and whether or not that cost the team some valuable three points.

“It’s a complicated season in terms of penalties. Bellingham, Mbappe, and Vinicius have missed. I’ve tried to give him confidence, but he missed this one too,” he said.

When asked whether or not Kylian Mbappe will now become the main penalty taker, the Italian responded, “Let’s see.”

Speaking of Vinicius, the Brazilian was also a subject of whistles from his own sets of fans at the Bernabeu, especially after he missed the penalty.

“Vinicius is focused on what he’s doing. He may play well or poorly, but he’s focused on what he’s doing,” Ancelotti said when asked about the whistles.

The Real Madrid went on to analyse the game with a bit more insights, stating, “We created a ton of chances and were very close to scoring. We may have lacked effectiveness, and in recovering the ball, but we conceded very little.

Valencia defeat not due to mentality problem, says Ancelotti (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

“It’s true that opponents don’t need much to score against us in these moments. We took risks to try to win; a draw wouldn’t have been enough for us, and we got through that counterattack. We did well offensively. We lacked some effectiveness.

Talking about whether or not Real Madrid lacked the mentality, Ancelotti stated that his team deserved to win but praised the opposition as well.

“We have to take into account the small details, like the missed penalty and then the fact that they conceded a set piece. And they disallowed a goal. These are small details that can change the dynamic of the match.

“Valencia played their game, with fantastic work. But Madrid deserved to win, without a doubt. Can things be improved? Of course they can. It’s not a matter of attitude; you can criticize whatever you want, but I have the right to see what I see.

“We’ve had deserved defeats, but today wasn’t deserved. Today there was no lack of attitude,” he said.

When asked whether or not he is worried by this defeat to Valencia and the impact it can have on Real Madrid’s season, Ancelotti remained coy as ever.

“We’ve missed the opportunity to fight harder for the league title. The match against Barça in the Cup will be different; they’ll attack more, and we’ll need to be better at the back and more effective up front,” he said.

The reporters also pointed out that Real Madrid haven’t won comfortably in quite some time now.

“It’s a very demanding schedule, and sometimes you have to suffer. There’s no easy game at this stage of the season. We’ve tried and will continue to try to get the best out of ourselves. Sometimes we’re capable of it, sometimes a little less so,” he responded.

Finally, Ancelotti offered an update on the goalkeeping department, specifically talking about Thibaut Courtois and Andriy Lunin.

“Courtois trained today and felt good. Because of this doubt about Courtois, we decided not to risk Lunin. He’ll have a few more days to recover. Then we’ll see about Tuesday. We have both options,” he concluded.