Xabi Alonso has challenged his Real Madrid players to show greater consistency as they gear up for their La Liga clash with Rayo Vallecano.
Los Blancos head into the weekend five points clear at the top of the table, having suffered just one league defeat all season. However, their recent Champions League setback, a 1-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield, exposed areas that Alonso believes require improvement.
Madrid struggled to impose themselves in midweek, registering only two shots on target and producing an expected goals tally of just 0.45 compared to Liverpool’s 2.58.
Despite the disappointing result, Alonso insisted he remains satisfied with his team’s overall mentality and approach but stressed the need for sharper execution and consistency as the season progresses.
“We want to be consistent, but not all matches are the same,” Alonso told reporters. “We need to consider the context; we shouldn’t make judgments based on just one match.
“I have no complaints whatsoever about my players’ attitude beforehand. I’m very happy with them, we’re making progress. That’s what makes me happy.”
Real Madrid’s opponents, Rayo Vallecano, will be buoyed by their narrow Europa Conference League win over Lech Poznan on Thursday and they’ll enter this clash with the aim of heaping further misery on the current La Liga leaders.
However, Alonso’s men have displayed remarkable strength in the Spanish top flight despite suffering heavy injury casualties and they will be overwhelming favourites to emerge from this game, set to go down at the Estadio de Vallecas, with maximum points.
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