Real Madrid climbed back to the top of the La Liga standings as they made it five wins in five, beating Real Sociedad 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

Los Blancos once again went behind early in the game, with Ander Barrenetxea opening the scoring for La Real just five minutes in, but a second-half comeback and goals from Federico Valverde and Joselu ensured the victory for Carlo Ancelotti’s men.

Speaking after the match, the Real Madrid manager acknowledged that his team cannot concede goals like that on a regular basis and make things hard for themselves.

“In five games played, we’ve conceded goals in three of them. We have to avoid that because then it’s hard to get them back and you have to make more effort, as we saw today. And today it was against an opponent who play very good football,” he said.

But, Ancelotti went on to praise the commitment and the intensity of his players, stating that the opposition finds it hard to match that level over 90 minutes.

“We have achieved this thanks to the commitment, energy, and will of the team, which has been a constant in these matches. We are capable of putting in an intensity that our opponents find difficult to sustain for 90 minutes,” he exclaimed.

Analysing the game and the goal that Real Madrid conceded early on, Ancelotti added: “The first half wasn’t bad. We tried to press high up the pitch, but the opposition had a very high defensive line and we had to attack more directly.

“The game was good, although the goal conceded came from a play we had in mind. Real Sociedad usually do this and it was discussed before the game. Sometimes the opposition also have the quality to do it and surprise us.

“We have a lot of options in terms of players who can score goals, but we can’t concede and start losing.”

Highlighting what the match-winner Joselu brings to the table for Real Madrid, the manager said:

“He is a guarantee in attack because he plays very well with his back to goal, with his head and he is very dangerous in the opposition box. Up front we don’t have any player with these characteristics and he’s very important.

“It’s no coincidence that he has scored in both home games because we have more chances. If he hadn’t scored I would have changed him too because I wanted more control in midfield. I hesitated whether to take him off or not after he scored.”

Joselu and Valverde’s goals were both assisted by new signing Fran Garcia, who also had to deal with the threat of Takefusa Kubo at the back. Highlighting the left-back’s display, Ancelotti said:

“Kubo played very well and was very dangerous. In the first half, he [Garcia] played well and in the second, he gave us two fantastic assists that allowed us to win the game.”

On the performance of star man Jude Bellingham who had a relatively quiet night compared to his explosive start, Ancelotti said:

“He played a steady game, working hard. He didn’t get much into the box except for Brahim’s last play. Real Sociedad have a very advanced defensive line and it was more difficult for him.”

Stressing on the importance of Dani Carvajal in the current system, Ancelotti said: “The width is given to you by the two full-backs and that’s why he’s further forward when we have the ball. As the attackers are more inside we need the full-backs further forward.”

On Rodrygo not scoring on the night, the Real Madrid boss stated: “I liked his play because he has positioned himself very well between the lines.

“Like Valverde, he is one of those most affected by this break because he arrived on Thursday afternoon. It’s not so easy to recover after arriving on Thursday. He didn’t score, but that’s OK.”

Source: Realmadrid.com