Premier League: Declan Rice, Guardiola’s most expensive setback
Real Madrid was defeated this Saturday, January 7, 2023 in the 16th day of LaLiga Santander. A defeat that was the result of an average effort of the men of Carlo Ancelotti. It is therefore a little disappointed that the Italian technician appeared in the press conference after the match to analyze the performance of his players, as well as the two penalties.
His analysis of the match: “I don’t know. The game was balanced, competitive, Villarreal played better than us. The key is that we did not defend well in our own half, we were not compact, we left balls between the lines and they took advantage, they played very well. They played at a high level, but not us, especially defensively. We were dangerous, but we gave up too much control in areas that we usually control very well.
We need to focus well to solve the problem. As far as hands, soccer has changed in that sense, there’s a clear rule, for everybody, if you touch with your hand and it’s not near your body, it’s a penalty. If it slips, if it doesn’t slip… it doesn’t matter. You have to get used to it. Both penalties, with the rule, are okay. The fans don’t like it, but the referees have to respect that rule.”
But this is soccer, with hands like that? Don’t tell me to say it’s not soccer, I already said it in the other game (against Cacereño, because of the poor condition of the field) and it got ruined… You have to get used to it, that’s the rule.”
Rüdiger and Mendy were not good… “I agree that it was not a great game from us, especially defensively. We worked well in our opponents’ half, but we should have done better in our own half. The team was too open, the defense and the midfield, we were getting balls between the lines, that was the problem.”
Is it a physical problem, after the World Cup? I see that the team is fresh, players who played only 45 minutes in the Cup have played, the physical aspect is good. Not everyone is in the same condition, but it was not a physical thing, in the last part of the game we pushed a lot, we fought until the end.”
Why did you choose Militao as a fullback? The decision was made because I did not want to put Lucas in, because he played the whole game in Caceres, he was a little tired. Militao did well in that position in Brazil. In attack he did well, and in defense it was not his problem, it was the team that was too open.”
Is Villarreal a fair winner? “They played better than us and when you do that, you deserve to win.”
