Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has charged his side to ‘up their game’ after they suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Laliga on Wednesday night.
Gorka Guruzeta scored the winner for Bilbao in the 80th minute moments after Jude Bellingham had equalized for the Los Blancos firing in from a rebound.
Alejandro Berenguer had given Ernesto Valverde’s side the lead early in the second half before struggling forward Kylian Mbappe lost a penalty for Real Madrid.
“Athletic is a very dangerous team, we competed and fought. I think the match was a draw. For what the two teams did for me it was a draw, but there’s nothing to say about the fact that they have won,” he said.
The defeat was a big blow to Carlo Ancelotti’s side as they failed to cut the gap to league leaders Barcelona who had defeated Mallorca 5-1 the previous day.
“I think we did well defensively in the first half, we could have done better with the ball. In the second half we were better in attack, we had chances.
But it’s nothing, we are still in the fight. We could have got a worse result, but we’re there and let’s think about Saturday’s game in Girona”, he continued.
Ancelotti also failed to blame France international Mbappe for his penalty loss and has urged the former Paris Saint Germain star man to focus on improving his game after struggling for consistency.
‘We missed the penalty but I can’t be assessing the game based on that basis because you might score, or not. Mbappe is upset, he’s disappointed but we have to keep going.”
The 65-year old manager will hope his side bounce back from their loss when they travel to eight-placed Girona on Saturday.
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