Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti blasts his players after their shock 4-2 defeat by Girona
‘Our level was REALLY low’: Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti blows his players after their shock 4-2 defeat to Girona – and urges the team to improve ahead of their Champions League semi-final with Manchester City
Carlo Ancelotti slapped his players after they scored four goals against Catalan minnows Girona just two weeks before meeting Manchester City.
Our level was very low. Our apologies, the team didn’t play at all,” said the Madrid coach after watching the 4-2 defeat at Girona’s 13,000 stadium.
“We were bad defensively and that was the key to the defeat,” he added. “We were anxious and relied on individual play.”
The Madrid coach accepted that supporters will not be happy to lose to a team that played in Spain’s second tier last season.
“They will be as hurt and angry as we are,” he said of the supporters. “But we must not forget that we are in a cup final and a semi-final of the Champions League.”
Carlo Ancelotti slapped his players after Real Madrid were beaten 4-2 by Girona on Tuesday
The manager criticized his side’s poor defense and claimed they were not playing well as a team
In that semi-final they will meet Manchester City on May 9. This match was billed as Madrid against ‘little City’ because Girona is owned by the City Group. All four goals in Girona came from Taty Castellanos, who is on loan to the club from New York City.
He had scored just seven goals coming into the match, missing out on a sitter in a 0-0 draw against Barcelona two weeks ago. But he went into double digits by fooling the usually brilliant Eder Militao.
The Brazilian was described as ‘unrecognizable’ and ‘absent’ in Marca’s match report.
At the other end of the field, Vinicius was Madrid’s best player, although he was booked and risked a second yellow card when provoked by the Girona defenders. “I told him he is very good and that is why we have insulted him so often,” said Girona coach Michel.
Girona’s Taty Castellanos celebrates his hat-trick before scoring a fourth against Real Madrid
Star player Vinicius Jr puts his head in his hands as Real Madrid are 11 points behind Barcelona
In the first half, Vinicius was unplayable and scored his 22nd goal of the season. He has now matched last season’s tally and the goal took him to 58 goals in the Madrid shirt – the same mark Figo made during his time at the club.
Ancelotti said of the fiery winger’s warning: “A player like that shouldn’t get so many yellow cards.” He was furious in the first half when Vinicius was booked and challenges against him went unpunished.
Real Madrid rested Karim Benzema back in Madrid for the Girona meeting, but it was their goalkeeper they really missed. Thibaut Courtois was out with a stomach problem and his stand-in Andriy Lunin was able to come close to each of the four goals.
Real Madrid now has five points ahead of number three Atletico Madrid, which plays on Wednesday. The race for second place could be vital this season – if Barcelona are banned from next season’s Champions League by UEFA, second place in La Liga means the team is a seed in the draw of the Champions League for next season.