Carlo Ancelotti defended Actual Madrid’s efficiency of their 2-1 LaLiga win over Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, pointing to the struggles of a variety of groups balancing Champions League soccer with home duties.
Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior put Madrid 2-0 up within the first half on the Santiago Bernabéu, earlier than Pedro Díaz pulled a purpose again for Rayo to make sure a nervous second half.
Madrid disillusioned after the break, however took all three factors to go stage with Barcelona — who’ve a sport in hand — on the prime of the LaLiga desk.
“The sensation is sweet, as a result of the goal is to choose up factors,” Ancelotti insisted in his post-match information convention. “We had an excellent first half… While you get to 70 or 75 minutes at 2-1, it’s a must to do one factor, which is defend properly.
“Plenty of groups performed within the Champions League and suffered [this weekend]. It was troublesome for Inter towards Monza [in Serie A]. Liverpool towards Southampton [in the Premier League]. [Bayer] Leverkusen misplaced, Bayern [Munich] misplaced [in the Bundesliga. It’s difficult to prepare for these games, against teams like Rayo which play with intensity. I’ll repeat myself: the first half was very good.”
Madrid had been on a poor run of form in LaLiga, with one win in five games going into the Rayo match.
However their title hopes were buoyed by Atletico Madrid slipping to a 2-1 defeat at Getafe earlier on Sunday.
Ancelotti praised the performances of Mbappé and Vinícius, who had received some criticism for their showings against Atletico in their Champions League last 16 first leg in midweek.
“Vinicius and Mbappé scored two spectacular goals,” Ancelotti said. “They did well, and then when I thought we had to defend, I took the forwards off. It’s not a problem, they played fewer minutes and that will be good for the [second leg] on Wednesday.”
Ancelotti stated goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois — who did not make the squad towards Rayo — had a “little drawback” however must be match for the Champions League, including that defender Antonio Rüdiger, who has the flu, must also be accessible.
