"Blame the players, not Ancelotti" - Cristiano Ronaldo

A defeat at home has brought Real Madrid’s coach, Carlo Ancelotti under scrutiny. However, Cristiano Roanldo insists that the players were to be blamed and not the coach.

Diego Costa gave Atletico Madrid an early lead, leading Real to their first La Liga defeat this season and left them five points behind Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, who are on top of the table.

Ancelotti did have to face a lot of criticism after the derby defeat, but Ronaldo was keen to take the blame off the former’s shoulders.

He said, “Atletico went ahead and played a good match. They ran more and it was not our best day.

“The coach is not to blame. The players are to blame. I played badly, but not just me. My team-mates were not good either. We have to step up and fight harder.

“From today to tomorrow we can improve a lot and we will do. There are still a lot of league matches left, the Champions League, the cup. Five points is a big advantage but we have to keep working to make this a phenomenal season.”

The past week has been a difficult one for Ancelotti, having narrowly won via a 90th minute Ronaldo penalty to beat newly promoted Elche 2-1.

“We conceded the goal at the start, the match became difficult and we lost confidence,” he said. “The start of the season has been good and we’ve been playing well, but the last two matches have been bad. We have to fix it with a better attitude, more concentration and with clearer ideas.

“The moment we’re going through is not easy and losing a home match is not good. We have to think about fixing the problem quickly. I think we have to continue with the work we are doing, trying to play more with the ball on the ground.

“We were doing well until last week and I am not going to change things now. It is true that we are five points behind [Atletico and Barcelona], but the league season is long and we have time to cut the gap. The team has a lot of quality.”

The derby win was Atletico’s seventh successive victory, but coach Diego Simeone said the team wasn’t going to let this get to their head and that it was too early to consider themselves as title contenders.

“Looking at the table you would say yes, but the economic power of Barcelona and Real Madrid is important,” he said. “We will go game by game.

“The result is much better than anything. I compare it to the final because winning a cup final at the stadium of your eternal rival is important. It was a very good performance. I congratulate my players because they have responded very well in a very important game.”

Atletico captain Gabi praised goalscorer Costa, saying: “He is a very important player for us, he is indispensable to the team, the team knows what he wants. He is growing as a player and is vital to us.”