Real s Ancelotti hopes Betis defeat is wake up call for Champions League

SEVILLE – Real Madrid must raise their game ahead of the Champions League round of 16, coach Carlo Ancelotti warned after a 2-1 loss at Real Betis on March 1, calling the loss a “heavy blow” to his side’s La Liga title hopes.

The result sees Real drop to third in La Liga, two points adrift of Atletico, who beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 later on March 1. Barcelona can regain top spot if they beat Real Sociedad on March 2 – the result of that match was unavailable at press time.

Ancelotti criticised his teams poor performance at the Benito Villamarin and said a similar display at home to Atletico in Champions League, first leg on March 4 could prove costly.

“This is a heavy blow, we have to bounce back. Losing at this point in the season is tough because everyone is on form and we didn’t do well in this game,” the Italian told reporters.

“We lost 27 balls in the first half and Betis got back into the game. If we play like this, we certainly won’t win on Tuesday.

“I hope this serves as a wake-up call. It seemed that lately we were more organised, more compact, and today we weren’t able to do it like in the previous games.”

Brahim Diaz had put Real in front after just 10 minutes but Betis fought back with a Johnny Cardoso header and an Isco penalty to seal the win.

Ancelotti explained his decision to bring on Endrick for the teams top scorer Kylian Mbappe in the closing stages of the game, saying the French forward had been unable to fully train due to a dental issue.

“(Mbappe) had a problem this week and didn’t train much and wasn’t at his best level,” he said.

“To avoid problems