Carlo Ancelotti: I got it wrong in Paris and we played poorly

Madrid, Spain | Xinhua | Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted on Friday that he got his side’s tactics wrong for their 1-0 Champions League defeat away to Paris Saint Germain on Tuesday night.

Although it wasn’t until the 94th minute that Kylian Mbappe broke the deadlock, only a series of saves from Thibaut Courtois kept Madrid in the game, while Ancelotti’s men had just three shots all game, with none of those on target as they dedicated to defending to ensure a good result for the second leg in three weeks.

“I want to be honest, we played very poorly against PSG,” admitted Ancelotti in his pre-conference ahead of Saturday’s La Liga game at home to struggling Alaves.

The coach said he took full responsibility for the result: “Our tactics were bad, they didn’t work and I am responsible for the loss,” he said.

“We didn’t give a good impression and that is what hurts me the most. Personally, Wednesday was a complicated day, yesterday (Thursday) was better and today I feel confident again.”

“We have three weeks to think about how we can resolve it. In order to qualify for the quarterfinals, 1-0 isn’t a bad result and we can change it if we work hard,” he insisted.

Ancelotti welcomed the return of Karim Benzema, saying the Frenchman would help solve the problem.

He also spoke about Vinicius Jr’s recent loss of form.

“He has had a very intense month of January, but now is the moment that the number of games will drop and he will recover his effectiveness,” he concluded.

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Xinhua