“The Cristiano penalty is clear and everyone except the referee saw it” - Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti spoke with the media alter the match at the Camp Nou. The Madrid coach stated that he did not enjoy how his team had played in the first half, but highlighted the improvement after the break: “I think the second half was very good....

We pressed more, played more; we were in control of the game and had good chances to score”. Likewise, he lamented the fact that the referee failed to see the foul by Mascherano on Cristiano Ronaldo inside the penalty area: “In my opinion it is a clear penalty, I think the whole world saw it apart from the referee, who didn’t award it”.
Ancelotti explained the varying tactics that he used for the clash against Barcelona. Regarding Ramos’ position in the centre midfield, he said: "The aim was to put him there to have some balance in midfield. After the match against Juventus, Illarra had muscle fatigue and I didn’t want to risk him because he started the season with a serious injury. I talked to Sergio and he was happy to play in that position. He played well, and that is why he played there”.

With regard to Bale’s performance, he said: “I think they are his first matches and he needs to get used to playing with his teammates, which is normal. He played well and he needs to look for his teammates’ runs. He didn’t play badly during that hour. It doesn’t make much difference for him to play on the right or in the middle. We started like that to put more pressure on Busquets, but alter 20 minutes I changed his position to on the wing to give him more room”.

The Italian didn’t consider his formation to be defensive: “I don’t think we played with three defensive midfielders because Modric isn’t a defensive midfielder. Khedira and Ramos played defensively to give the team balance. Carvajal played with an attacking mindset, so did Marcelo, Di María is a forward, Ronaldo as well… I don’t think that Barcelona played with as many forwards. They only played with Messi and Neymar”. He also assessed his experience in his first Clasico: “It was a great match with fantastic atmosphere. I think it was a great spectacle against a great team. We set out to win”.

When asked about the move when Adriano touched the ball with his hand inside the area, he said: “I am not going to comment on the handball because it is a very difficult decision to make. It is an important moment in the game and if he awards a penalty I think the outcome of the match is different”. When asked what percentage of the blame for the defeat could be attributed to the referee, he answered: “I don’t talk about percentages. I am only going to talk about that particular episode and the match. I think in the first half we were too worried and we didn’t play, and in the second we played a lot better. We were in complete control and Barcelona had a lot of difficulty defending. I don’t know about percentages. I am talking about this because I was able to see it. In Chiellini’s move the other day I wasn’t able to see it”.

source realmadridfc.com