Ancelotti talks Mbappe, Bellingham, Vinicius, Modric, Endrick, Vallejo, referee after Real Madrid 3-2 Alaves

Real Madrid chalked up their fifth win on the bounce across all competitions as they defeated Deportivo Alaves 3-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu last night.

First-half strikes from Lucas Vazquez and Kylian Mbappe, and an early second-half goal from Rodrygo put Los Blancos in firm control. And a late fightback and two goals from Alaves, the reigning champions held out for a victory.

Ancelotti unhappy with the refereeing

Speaking to the media after the game, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti expressed a measure of displeasure at the match official, who ignored repeated fouling from Alaves players, but was always quick to brandish cards at the hosts.

Giving his thoughts on the matter, Ancelotti said: “I repeat what I said the other day. The yardstick has changed and we have to get used to it. That’s all.

“We still haven’t got used to it. We’ve had four yellow cards for protesting. We have to avoid protesting and that’s it. Fair or unfair, we have to adapt to the new rules.”

Ancelotti, who went and had a word with the referee after the game, also expressed surprise at Luka Modric being shown a yellow card when it is permitted for a captain to speak and respond to the match official.

“It’s complicated to respond to this. If the captain was yellow-carded for talking… there is only one person who can respond, and that is the referee,” he said.

On what he told the referee after the game, Ancelotti replied: “I thought the yellow cards for protests were exaggerated. I told him that I have to do my part to prevent my players from doing this, no problem, we talked about it.”

Regarding Alaves manager Luis Garcia Plaza’s complaints about Endrick not getting sent off, the Real Madrid boss said:

“I can’t give my opinion because I didn’t see it. We discussed the matter after the game, but without any problem, no confrontation.”

On the game and individual performances

Real Madrid started off strongly last night but faded in the final stages, when the opposite has been true for most matches this season. Explaining the dip in levels later in the game, the manager said:

“Simply because this is football, football is like that. When you think the game is over, all it takes is a little slip-up for them to score the first goal and the opposing team’s confidence and your own mistrust to come to the fore.

“This is what often happens in football. We don’t want this to happen, but sometimes it can happen. It should be noted that for 60 minutes the team played very, very well and this gives us confidence.”

Mbappe scored a good goal on the night and took his tally for the season to seven goals from nine games. Ancelotti reserved some praise for the French superstar, saying:

“He’s doing very well, we’re doing very well in attack. For an hour the team played very well, looking for opportunities in different ways, in transition, filtering passes….”

Regarding concerns about Mbappe’s fitness after he sustained a knock, the manager said: “He’s fine. He was a little overloaded and he asked me to change to avoid any problems.”

Ancelotti also highlighted the performance of Jude Bellingham on the night, praising the Englishman for playing a ‘complete game’.

“He’s growing, he gave the assist to Mbappe, he played a very complete game. He needs to get used to it a bit more in the box, like last year.

“It’s more complicated against a team with a low block like Alaves. I’m asking Bellingham to do that kind of work, not to score goals, we can score at any time.”

Vinicius Jr., who had a good game, did not look very pleased at being subbed off late in the game. But Ancelotti explained the situation, saying:

“We have to evaluate the issue of yellow cards for protests. And we will do it among ourselves.”

On his decision to take Eder Militao off for Jesus Vallejo late in the game, which exposed the Real Madrid defence, he said:

“I brought on Vallejo to give Militao some rest. It wasn’t Vallejo’s fault for the goal, we got a bit confused. We conceded two goals in a few minutes and I changed the line a bit for the last few minutes. Nothing special.

“Jacobo Ramon was going to come on, but as we conceded the second goal, I preferred not to.”

Source: AS