Saturday night was a dark one for Real Madrid as they were on the receiving end of a 0-4 thrashing at the hands of eternal rivals FC Barcelona in La Liga.
It was a disappointing outing for the reigning champions who completely capitulated in the second period, allowing Barça to run roughshod over them at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Naturally, the morale will not be at the highest in the locker room, considering the importance of the game and the manner of the defeat.
Carlo Ancelotti’s strong message
Real Madrid do not have any assignments coming up until the weekend when they face Valencia in La Liga.
Ahead of the game, as reported by Edu Aguirre, manager Carlo Ancelotti has sent a message to the players advising them to ‘disconnect’ and get their heads clear.
Indeed, the message from the Real Madrid boss to the entire squad has been: “We have to keep the competitive spirit. It’s time to disconnect and clear the mind.”
As mentioned earlier, Los Blancos are not in action until the coming weekend when they take on Valencia.
The manager has given the players a day off today in lieu of the Ballon d’Or ceremony and they will return to training tomorrow, i.e., Tuesday, to start preparations for the contest against Los Che.
It will be important that the Real Madrid squad enters into that game with a clear mind and without any hangover from the El Clasico drubbing.
The season is long and there are still a lot of games left for Real Madrid to catch up to Barcelona at the top of the table. The important thing is for them to produce a strong reaction and focus on getting back to their best at the earliest possible.