“It was obvious” – Carlo Ancelotti explains Kylian Mbappe substitution during Real Betis defeat – Football España

Real Madrid look to have lost more ground in the La Liga title race on Saturday after they were defeated 2-1 by Real Betis at the Benito Villamarin. By the end of the weekend, Los Blancos could be down to third in the standings, and also three points away from first place.

It was not a good performance from Real Madrid in Andalusia, and Carlo Ancelotti was fully aware of this. As per Diario AS, he gave his assessment of the 90 minutes during his pre-match press conference, and also what it means for his side in the La Liga title race.

“We started well, but we were not able to maintain the initial rhythm, both in terms of attitude and commitment. We got out of control against a team that played better and deserved to win. This is a hard blow. We have to react. Losing at this point is very expensive, because all teams race and we… We didn’t do well in this game.”

Ancelotti was clear that a result like the one against Betis cannot be replicated again, especially during the upcoming Champions League round of 16 tie against city rivals Atletico Madrid.

“If we play like this we won’t win on Tuesday, it’s quite clear. Hopefully this will help us to wake up. It seemed that in recent times we were organised, compact but today, we were not able to do it.”

Kylian Mbappe, who returned to action after missing the midweek victory at Real Sociedad, was a surprise early substitution at the Benito Villamarin, as he was taken off after 75 minutes to be replaced by Endrick Felipe. Ancelotti explained the decision.

“Mbappe hadn’t trained much and he wasn’t at his best. It was obvious. So to avoid problems I preferred to remove him and put Endrick in. He has trained little and was not at 100%.”