Ancelotti pinpoints moment Real Madrid’s spirit was broken against Liverpool

Carlo Ancelotti admitted Liverpool fully deserved the victory over his Real Madrid team, with Kylian Mbappe's penalty miss proving crucial at Anfield.

The Reds achieved a 2-0 victory in the Champions League match at Anfield on Wednesday evening with goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo. It leaves the European champions looking over their shoulders in the new competition and they are in danger of leaving the tournament early.

While Liverpool made a flawless start to the competition and topped the group, Real Madrid have dropped to the last qualifying spot with just three games to go. As it stands, they will be involved in the 16-team play-offs before the last 16 get underway.

Mbappe's miss, with the score 1-0, was seen by the ex-Everton boss as a game-changing moment. He acknowledged: “To be very honest, it is a fair result. Liverpool deserved to win.

“They have a really good dynamic at the moment and are in top form. They were really switched on, connected and playing with high intensity.”

The Italian also reflected on his side's performance: “We did well in the first half, we held them, set up quite well and defended well as a unit. In the transitions we were okay. But then we lost the ball and once we got the ball, With the ball we made the wrong decision in the future.”

Ancelotti emphasized the importance of the penalty miss: “We fought until the penalty. If we could have drawn it, we would have competed well until that moment. But we have to keep going.

“This is the path we are currently on, we have to fight for everything. There are things we have to improve. And we will improve, that's all really.”

He also admitted that his team did not make the right decisions in the second half of the match, admitting: “In the second half we did not make the right decisions. But Liverpool were great in the second half.”

The Real Madrid boss also played down the significance of the match when it comes to the league standings: “This match was not a decisive match in terms of our position in the league, it was always going to be difficult for us to be in the top eight to finish, so we have to finish as high as possible in the top 24. We will compete in the knockout stages of the Champions League, as we always do.”

Ancelotti also addressed Mbappe's slump and sympathized with the Frenchman: “Attackers, if they don't score, get a little disappointed and lose confidence. There is a medicine. It's a difficult moment for Mbappé, we have to give him our support and give love.” and he will soon be well.”

“It could be a lack of confidence. The idea is to keep things simple and not make it too complicated. You get through these moments. You can't blame someone for missing a penalty, you can't blame him for that causing too much grief.” .

“He just has to get through it.”