Football
ESPN staff 9y

Carlo Ancelotti stands behind decision to sub off Isco in Real Madrid draw

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti was in no mood to apologise for removing midfielder Isco from his side's 1-1 draw with Villarreal on Sunday.

The Italian manager subbed off the popular Spanish international for more defensive-minded midfielder Asier Illarramendi with 10 minutes remaining and Real in search of a winning goal.

Speaking to the media after the game, the coach stood firm behind his decision.

"A coach makes the changes he believes are best for his team. If the fans don't understand [the changes] then I'm sorry but I made ​​the change in order to give more balance to the team," Ancelotti said.

While the draw meant Real failed to protect their four-point lead atop the La Liga standings, Ancelotti credited Villarreal for playing a role in his side's struggles.

"These things happen in football. Sometimes it happens. It's true that in the first half we played too slowly. We were quite the opposite in the second half.

"I don't know if we were anxious but I know we had many chances [to score]. We weren't lucky in the end. We had 24 shots at goal and only seven of them hit the target.

"[Villarreal] are a team with very good organisation and identity and always play a high-quality game.

"If [our poor performance] was a physical issue, our downturn should have happened in the second half, not first. We simply had difficulties," he admitted.

In light of the unfavorable result, however, Ancelotti still found reason for optimism in his team's performance.

"I think the team are improving. We lost two points, but the League won't be decided until the last game and we must enjoy [the rest of the season] because we have tough games [coming up].

"We weren't impotent in front goal. We just didn't have any luck. I don't think it's better to play on a Wednesday and Sunday.

"I think we worked very well this week but [the match] didn't go well. I don't think it's a physical problem."

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