Ancelotti: "The team played very well for 80 minutes"

Carlo Ancelotti appeared in the press room at the Santiago Bernabéu to discuss Real Madrid's win over Rayo Vallecano: “I saw a team who played very well for 80 minutes. We had loads of chances and I thought we'd have to get another goal to kill the game off. The third goal never came and when they scored, we had ten minutes of fear and we suffered for it, but we have to look at the big picture. It's unusual for Karim to miss the chances we had today. I'm pleased because Rayo play some good stuff and press well".

"We got around the press and found good options up top, as well as countering well. If the game had finished with 80 minutes on the clock, we could have said it was our best performance of the season, but we were unable to convert the chances we had and then we conceded the goal. From that point on we couldn't take risks in our play. They waited for us to lose the ball to play on the counter".

Changes
“I took Karim off because he was tired, and Marco, who had a brilliant game. Then another change at the end of the game to gain a bit of height in the set-plays against us".

"Asensio has the ability to play as a winger or more centrally. He linked up well with Carvajal today and got three goals against Mallorca playing as a midfielder. For me, it's important that he feels important within the team, and he is. He provided a fantastic assist for Kroos today and played well defensively. He linked up well with Karim and Vinicius Jr. I'm very happy with his performance".

Barcelona
"It's difficult for me to talk about Barcelona and their situation. I've got a lot of respect for the club and for Xavi. They've got quality players to get them out of this difficult situation. It's a surprise that Barcelona are falling behind, but I believe that they can turn it around because it's a very long season and the league is very competitive. The league won't be won with 100 points, anything can still happen".