Real Madrid manager has confirmed concerns regarding an injury setback affecting Jude Bellingham following his side’s goalless draw at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu against Rayo Vallecano.

Bellingham experienced discomfort in his shoulder in the first half, prompting a brief stoppage for treatment. However, he decided to continue and ultimately played the entire 90 minutes. It was evident that he had his shoulder heavily bandaged as the match concluded.

While addressing the issue, Ancelotti stated, “Bellingham has had a problem with his shoulder and will have tests tomorrow,” he said (h/t Real Madrid official website). 

“He is a little affected, but he has been able to continue. I hope it’s nothing serious and hopefully, he will be available by Wednesday. 

“Today was a well-played game, with attitude, energy, and numerous opportunities. We have lacked success. We are hurt by the result, but the game was good,” he added.

Bellingham had an altercation with Pathe Ciss and while discussing the same, Ancelotti added: “I don’t know what happened to Pathe Ciss. They have fought on the field, but nothing has happened. Bellingham is a fighter, a winner, and it bothers him that we weren’t able to win.”

Ancelotti’s match analysis

Madrid squandered their chance to reclaim the top spot in La Liga, settling for a goalless stalemate against Rayo Vallecano.

This despite the fact that they attempted 22 shots during the game and Federico Valverde, Joselu, Bellingham, and Vinicius Jr. each had promising opportunities to find the back of the net.

Speaking about the result, the manager said, “We are hurt by the result, not by the game. Sometimes you win games that you don’t deserve and other times you don’t win games that you do deserve. It was a game that we deserved to win. 

“There have been others who did not deserve it. We are in the fight in the League and very well in the Champions League. 

“There is no drama, but rather confidence in the things we are doing well like today because against Rayo Vallecano we have not done things badly.

“On an energy level, it was a very complete game. I have not seen my team tired and I think few have.”

He also added that if someone is to evaluate the result, it happens to be a wake-up call for the team. “If we evaluate the result, it is a wake-up call. I can’t evaluate the match based on the result. 

“I can’t be happy when we win or sad when we tie or lose. I have to be sad when we win if the team doesn’t play well and sometimes happy when we don’t win. The team has shown its face and for me, it has been enough,” he said.

The manager admitted that despite the result the players did exactly what they were told by him during the half-time team talk.

“In the first half, we forced the left wing, accumulating many players and we had to take advantage of the right wing more. Afterwards, we created many dangerous situations in the second half from the right. 

“We had to play more on the right and this was the only thing I said to the players at the end of the first half.

“We have a lot of offensive resources. Bellingham has not been in important scoring situations, but Valverde, Rodrygo, Joselu and Vinicius have created them. Today we lacked success.”

Peculiar substitution

Ancelotti made a very strange substitute during the 70th minute, replacing Rodrygo with Luka Modric. When asked about it, he said,

“I wanted to give width to the field and for Rodrygo to play on the outside to change from a 4-4-2 system to 4-3-3 and put more energy. Modric played a very complete game.

“I could have changed Valverde or Camavinga. Nobody deserved to be changed because the game was good. We have shot 22 times and we did not receive any shots on goal. 

“We watched the counterattacks, we were aggressive and I saw the team well. Sometimes it happens that you are not able to score goals.”

He also admitted that his players gave everything to find the win, “We have tried in many ways. With centres, with filtered and vertical passes. That has not happened and anyone who knows this world knows that this can happen. 

“The important thing is to believe until the end and the team has tried until the last second,” he added.

Why was Arda Guler left out?

Youngster Arda Guler completed full training sessions ahead of the match and while he was included in the matchday squad, Ancelotti decided not to use him in the fixture.

While talking about it, the manager explained, “It was not the time to put him in the last minutes because there was a lot of fighting and duels from above. With Arda, we have to go calmly. He has started training and soon he will play.”