After Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu against Valencia on Saturday, Carlo Ancelotti appeared in a post-match press conference. Whether about losing ground in La Liga or Vinicius Junior’s missed penalty, the Madrid coach spoke his mind.
Vinicius Junior and Real Madrid have almost waved goodbye to La Liga. Sitting just three points behind leaders Barcelona before Matchday 30, Carlo Ancelotti’s men lacked sharpness in front of Valencia’s goal. The visiting keeper made nine saves, including a penalty stop. With Courtois and Lunin both unavailable, 19-year-old Fran González made his professional debut in goal. Sadly, the outcome was a bitter one for the young shot-stopper.
Despite Kylian Mbappé winning the spot-kick and being in great form—many expected him to take it—Vinicius took responsibility but failed to convert. The miss only adds to the winger’s struggles ahead of the Champions League clash against Arsenal. After the loss, Ancelotti revealed that he had chosen Vini as the designated penalty taker.
Full press conference – Carlo Ancelotti
How do you see La Liga now?
“It’s now more difficult to fight for La Liga, but we want to perform well until the end because we still have chances. We have to keep fighting until the final match.”
“We must acknowledge that small details have cost us. The penalty, the set-piece, the disallowed goal… These little things change the course of a game. Valencia did a fantastic job, but Real deserved to win. There are still things we need to improve.”
Penalty takers
“It’s been a tough season for penalty takers. Bellingham missed against Valencia, Mbappé missed in Bilbao and against Liverpool, and Vinicius as well against Atlético. I wanted to give him confidence to take it—and he missed, too.”
Match analysis
“During the game, we created many chances and came very close to scoring, but we lacked finishing and ball recovery. We didn’t concede much, but teams don’t need to do much to score against us. They scored from a set-piece, and later on a counter-attack when we pushed forward for the win.”
Fran González’s debut and the goalkeeping situation
“Tonight, Courtois trained and felt good—he will train again tomorrow. With Lunin, we didn’t want to take any risks. He’ll need two or three more days’ rest. We’ll assess things on Tuesday—I believe we’ll have both options available.”
Defensive performance
“We were good going forward, creating lots of chances, but we lacked efficiency. Defensively, we could have done better—not so much in terms of Valencia’s chances, but more in recovering the ball, where we struggled.”
Vinicius Jr’s performance
“Vinicius is focused on what he has to do. He may be better or worse on the day, but he always gives everything.”
Self-assessment
“You’re free to criticise however you like—just as I am free to judge the match I saw. We’ve had deserved defeats this season, but today wasn’t one of them. The attitude wasn’t lacking.”
Looking ahead to Arsenal
“We’ve lost a big opportunity to fight more strongly for La Liga. The Arsenal match will be different—they’ll attack more, and we must be more solid. Above all, we need to be more clinical in front of goal.”
Is Mbappé now the first-choice penalty taker?
“We’ll see.”
Demanding calendar
“It’s a very tough schedule, and we have to endure it. There are no easy matches—we’re fighting in each one and trying to be at our best. Sometimes we manage it, other times we don’t.”
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