Carlo Ancelotti Disappointed with Real Madrid's First-Half Display Despite Win

Ancelotti demands improvement from Real Madrid despite late goals from Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham securing a 2-1 win at Valencia.

Real Madrid secured a thrilling 2-1 comeback victory over Valencia on Friday, but manager Carlo Ancelotti was left with mixed emotions. Despite praising his team's resilience, Ancelotti expressed disappointment with their first-half display, emphasizing that Real Madrid cannot afford to showcase “two sides” to their game.

Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham proved to be the heroes for Real Madrid, scoring crucial goals in the latter stages of the match to overturn Hugo Duro's 29th-minute opener for Valencia. The win was made all the more impressive by the fact that Real Madrid played with 10 men for the final 11 minutes, following Vinicius Jr.'s dismissal in the 79th minute.

Carlo Ancelotti struggled to explain the stark contrast between Real Madrid's dismal first-half performance and their impressive second-half display in their 2-1 comeback win over Valencia. “It's difficult to explain how bad we were in the first half and how good we were in the second, and with a man down,” Ancelotti told reporters. “We deserved three points, but we can't show these two sides. Tremendously bad in the first half, tremendously good in the second with 10 men.”

Jude Bellingham emerged as the hero for Real Madrid, scoring the winning goal in the 97th minute after having missed a penalty earlier in the second half. Ancelotti praised Bellingham's redemption, but also expressed concern over his team's recent struggles with penalty kicks. “It bothers me that we missed three penalties, I think I have to take responsibility for choosing who is going to take the penalty,” he said.

Ancelotti also revealed that Real Madrid will appeal Vinicius' straight red card, which was issued for slapping Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski. The Italian coach is hopeful that the decision will be overturned, potentially reducing the Brazilian striker's suspension.

“We think it wasn't a red card... But the team reacted to this difficulty. We are going to appeal, I don't know if they will accept it,” Ancelotti said.