“If we play like this vs Atletico, we will not win” - Carlo Ancelotti makes feelings clear about ‘bad’ Real Madrid loss to Betis 

Carlo Ancelotti did not hold back in his assessment of Real Madrid’s shocking 2-1 defeat to Real Betis in La Liga on Saturday, admitting that his side fully deserved to lose. The Italian manager was unhappy with his team’s performance and warned that a repeat display against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday (March 4) would cost them dearly.

Real Madrid had the privilege of playing first to go ahead of Barcelona on the league standings and both teams were on the same points after matchday 25 in the 2024-25 La Liga campaign. As expected, Carlo Ancelotti’s side enjoyed more possession in the early minutes, and they opened the scoring just 10 minutes into proceedings.

Kylian Mbappe found Ferland Mendy, who released a cutback pass to find Brahim Diaz to slot home. As the game went on, Betis started to show some intent, and they were back on level terms in the 34th minute, courtesy of Johnny Cardoso.

The second half began with an unexpected twist, as Real Betis took the lead nine minutes after the restart. The hosts were awarded a penalty as Antonio Rudiger brought down Jesus Rodriguez in the 18-yard box. Isco assumed responsibility from the spot and scored against his former side.

Real Madrid looked for a response from those moments onward, but all to no avail. Neither side could find the back of the net after Isco’s goal-ahead goal, which meant Real Betis secured all three points at Benito Villamarín.

In the post-match conference, Ancelotti pulled no punches while assessing his side’s performance and warned against replicating the same performance against cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

“We deserved to lose; we played a very bad game,’’ Ancelotti said. ‘’If we play like this vs Atletico, we will not win. Hopefully, this match will serve as a wake-up call, a lesson. It seemed that the team was much more organized and compact in recent times, but today we weren't able to do that like in previous games.”

Real Madrid remain rooted in the second position with 54 points after 26 games.

''He wasn't at his best'' – Ancelotti on why he substituted Kylian Mbappe in Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat to Real Betis

Kylian Mbappe was substituted in the game against Betis. This would come as a surprise to some Real Madrid fans, as the Frenchman has played the entirety of all their league games since he returned from injury in December.

Mbappe was replaced with Endrick in the 75th while Real Madrid trailed 2-1. Speaking after the match, Ancelotti said he took the former Paris Saint Germain man out of the game because he wasn’t at his best.

“He had a problem with his tooth and hasn't trained much. He wasn't at his best. So, to avoid problems I chose to take him off and bring on Endrick, who is in good form." Ancelotti said.

Of a truth, Mbappe didn’t really impress against Betis. He had zero shots on target, lost possession 15 times, completed 3 take-ons out of 6 attempted, and received a rating of 6.7 as per Sofascore.