"It’s better to have won vs Barcelona than vs Rayo” - Carlo Ancelotti makes bold claim after Real Madrid's recent stalemate
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti made a bold claim involving Barcelona, following his side's goalless draw against Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Sunday, Nov. 5. The Italian tactician insisted it's better as Los Blancos defeated the Catalan giants and drew with Rayo than the other way round.
Real Madrid came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the league when the two sides clashed at Camp Nou on October 28. Yesterday, however, the Galacticos failed to break down a resilient Rayo Vallecano side and were forced to settle for a draw at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Commenting on the outcome of his team's recent results, Carlo Ancelotti said (via Managing Madrid):
“In some games, we’ve maybe won without deserving to and here we deserved to win but didn’t. I can be sad when we win but don’t play well and other times, I can be happy when we play well but don’t win."
The Italian was then asked whether he was making reference to the Clasico when mentioning games Real Madrid “won without deserving to”, to which he replied:
“If we had to win one out of the two, better to have won against Barcelona than against Rayo.”
Ancelotti also analyzed Real Madrid's performance in the goalless draw with Rayo. The tactician reckoned that his side had a good approach to the game and only lacked a goal to round up their performance.
“We just lacked a goal," he said. "I think we had a good attitude and energy, but we didn’t get the result we wanted. We shot 23 times and had no shots against. In the first half, maybe we forced it to the left too much when we should have used the right too. We did that more in the second half."
"We tried in every way, with crosses, vertical passes, but it didn’t come off. I think we were good, but sometimes this can happen that you don’t score. The important thing is to keep trying until the end, which we did," the Italian added.
Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid still ahead of Barcelona in La Liga title race
Despite their recent setback, the Galacticos still rank above Barcelona in the race for the Liga title. As it stands, Carlo Ancelotti's men occupy the second position in the table with 29 points from 12 games, having recorded nine victories, two draws, and one defeat to their name so far.
Barcelona, on the other hand, follows closely in the third position with 27 points in 12 matches. The Blaugrana have won eight games, drawn three, and lost one in the Spanish top flight.
Meanwhile, a rather surprising side, Girona, currently leads the race for the title. The Catalan outfit has 31 points to its name in 12 games, having claimed 10 victories, one draw, and one defeat so far.