Xabi Alonso calls on his players to get back to form as quickly as possible after Celta defeat
Xabi Alonso has urged his Real Madrid team to “move on as quickly as possible” after slumping to a demoralising defeat to Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Sunday.
Madrid were beaten 2-0 by Claudio Giraldez’s side at Estadio Bernabeu, with Williot Swedberg coming off the bench to score a brilliant brace in the second half.
Swedberg opened the scoring in the 53rd minute before sealing the win in stoppage time, with his double coming after Los Blancos had been reduced to nine men.
Fran Garcia received two yellow cards in the space of two minutes before Alvaro Carreras followed suit, picking up two bookable offences in quick succession for dissent.
Madrid had also lost Eder Militao to injury in the 24th minute, and Alonso’s men are now four points behind Clasico rivals and leaders Barcelona in the top-flight standings.
But the Madrid boss has urged his players to put this result swiftly behind them, with Manchester City the visitors to the Spanish capital in the Champions League on Wednesday.
“We’re all angry; it wasn’t the game we wanted, nor the result,” Alonso admitted to AS. Militao’s injury hurt us from the start, and it took us a while to recover.
“We’ve made some adjustments. It wasn’t the game we wanted, so we need to move on as quickly as possible.
“It’s only three points; there’s a long way to go in the league. We have the Champions League on Wednesday to bounce back and get rid of this bad taste in our mouths.
“It wasn’t what we expected. We planned the match to play at a good pace, pressing hard against a good opponent, but things were lacking.
“Mili’s [Militao] injury disrupted our plans. It’s bad news; we’ve been struggling with injuries. This is another one to add to our woes.
“We all take responsibility for the good times and the not-so-good times. We have to handle it responsibly. We shouldn’t look too far ahead.”
The defeat also marked Madrid’s first against Celta in 22 meetings (since May 2014) and their first at home to the Galicians in 19 years.
Despite dropping valuable points in LaLiga and allowing leaders Barcelona to stretch their lead, Alonso insisted that Madrid have to look ahead in a long season.
“We’re all united, knowing that this is football, of course. We have to look ahead,” the Spaniard added.
“We know what the demands are, defeats hurt a lot, but we have to look ahead. This is everyone’s responsibility; we all have to commit to doing things right.
“We know that the points we’re dropping are important, but not decisive.”
Indeed, following the latest round of results, Madrid are handed just a 29.9% chance of winning LaLiga by the Opta supercomputer, compared to Barcelona’s 63.6%.
And when asked about Madrid’s recurring struggles against teams that defend in low blocks, Alonso stated that his side responded stronger after Garcia’s sending off.
“We have to create those opportunities; they’re situations we’ll face many times. We have to prepare for them and generate more chances,” Alonso said.
“When we’ve been down to ten men, we’ve created more chances. It’s a matter of looking for them and working hard.
“The team wants to compete, wants to build a foundation. We’re on the right track.”
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