Carlo Ancelotti said Real Madrid’s defense needed improvement after losing 3-1 to Juventus in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday and rated his team “six” out of 10 in pre-season.
Juventus forwards Moise Kean and Timothy Weah put the Italians 2-0 up from the start at the Camping World Stadium.
Vinicius Junior pulled one back for Madrid but Dusan Vlahovic scored Juventus’ third in stoppage time.
The result means Madrid have conceded six goals in their last two games following a 3-0 loss to Barcelona in Arlington, Texas on Saturday.
“We have shown two aspects [of our game],” Ancelotti told reporters postmach as quoted by ESPN.
“[We are] very good in attack, but defensively the team is not used to defending with a [midfield] diamond. We conceded a lot of goals. Three goals today, against Barcelona… We lack balance and we need to improve,” he continued.
Madrid started their pre-season tour of the United States with back-to-back wins over AC Milan and Manchester United before this latest defeat.
Ancelotti has tested the new squad, playing four midfielders, including summer signing Jude Bellingham for €103 million, behind two forwards instead of the 4-3-3 Madrid are already known for.
“It’s the easiest thing to improve,” said Ancelotti.
“It’s about position above all else, concentration and attitude. We did well with our high pressing and we were weak on the low blocks.”
“But I saw a lot of good things. Today Vinicius played very well in his position and scored a great goal. The attack doesn’t worry me. On the defensive side, we have to go through,” he continued.
When asked about Real Madrid’s value in pre-season, Ancelotti replied “six” and added: “It’s clear what we have to improve on. Now we’ll have two days’ rest, and work on defense.”
The Italy coach says left-back Ferland Mendy will be out for three weeks due to his recent injury, while summer new signing Arda Guler, who returned to Madrid early with a knee problem, is out for the long haul.
“It’s not a serious problem,” Ancelotti said when asked about Guler. “We hesitate between conservative treatment or surgery. In the worst case, it’s a month [out].”
Madrid will start the new LaLiga season at Athletic Club on August 12, before facing Almeria on August 19 and Celta Vigo on August 25.
