Real Madrid hold crisis talks with squad, lack of running discussed with players surprised | OneFootball

Real Madrid are certainly in crisis mode, and if the players were not aware of that, the meeting they had with the staff on Thursday made that clear to them. Carlo Ancelotti and his staff brought the players in to look at the tape, and seek solutions to their downturn in form.

The meeting was tense, as they discussed what the team had failed to do in recent matches, but ended positively, say Marca. The training session which occurred thereafter saw an improved atmosphere. One of the key points was the lack of defensive commitment, and the fact that they had run less than all of their opponents this season, and had the second-lowest distance covered figures in the Champions League.

Some of the players were taken aback by those numbers, but all of them committed to resolve it. Another specific that was discussed was AC Milan’s second goal on Tuesday, which saw a disappointing effort from Aurelien Tchouameni, Vinicius Junior, Antonio Rudiger, Luka Modric and Ferland Mendy.

This tallies with Ancelotti’s pre-match press conference ahead of their home clash with Osasuna on Saturday. The Italian manager challenged his players to demonstrate what they had discussed during the week, noting that they believed they had identified the issues. It is a diagnosis he also made earlier this year.