Carlo Ancelotti unbothered by Real Madrid’s early-season deficit to Barcelona

It’s not been an easy start to the season for Real Madrid. Back-to-back away draws against Mallorca and Las Palmas means that the reigning champions are currently four points adrift of Barcelona at the top of La Liga – that gap could extend to seven by the time they take on Real Betis at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday evening.

Carlo Ancelotti spoke of trying to find solutions when addressing the media in Gran Canaria on Thursday, and in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Betis fixture, he elaborated on the topic of Real Madrid trying to solve their early-season problems (via Diario AS).

“Being worried means that we are trying to solve our problems. So far we have not been able to have a compact block and we have to improve this. I have spoken about it with the players and they agree. When the problem is clear, it is easy to solve it.

“We have to defend better and that is a collective commitment. Now it is only an individual attitude that we have to work on to make it collective. The feeling is that we struggled to win the ball back and that the opposing teams were hurting us between the lines. It is something that we have and that we are going to solve.”

Ancelotti did not appear overly worried about these issues, and he was also relaxed about the deficit that has built up between his side and the top of the table after the opening three matchdays.

“We are not happy but not because of the four points, but because we did not play well. The season is very long and that doesn’t mean much. “e will compete until the end, there is no doubt about this.”

There’s no doubt that Real Madrid need to win on Sunday, especially if Barcelona defeat Real Valladolid, as they are expected to, 28 hours prior. What’s more, a convincing performance will also be required by Ancelotti’s side.

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