Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said he was worried about their performance in a 3-1 Champions League loss to AC Milan at the Bernabeu on Tuesday as they suffered back-to-back defeats in all competitions for the first time in over three years.

Real hosted Milan after a humiliating 4-0 home defeat by Barcelona in the Clasico over a week ago and they were again dominated at their own ground in a display that exposed last season’s champions for poor defending and lack of firepower.

Ancelotti urged his players to react quickly so they don’t fall too far behind in the hunt for a top eight finish in the 36-team Champions League table as they currently languish in 17th place with six points after four games.

“We have to be concerned, the team is not playing well,” Ancelotti told a press conference on Tuesday.

“The team is not compact, we need to be more compact, more organised, we’ve conceded a lot of goals … The team is not well organised on the pitch and we need to work on this.

“We have to focus on what we have today, which is a team that is not at its best, and get back to our level so we can fight for all competitions.”

Ancelotti acknowledged Real’s lack of balance and struggles defending, as they have conceded nine goals in their last three games – all at home.

He downplayed the crowd booing players like Aurelien Tchouameni and Kylian Mbappe, who have been heavily criticised by fans and pundits over their latest performances, saying his side’s issues are collective rather than individual.

“It is not an issue of motivation or attitude, it’s a collective thing that we need to fix quickly,” Ancelotti said.

“On the pitch something is missing and we have not been able to show our best version. We have to fix this, but the nights are going to be very long and we have to recover the solidity that we are lacking.

“That’s the problem above all, we’ve conceded too many goals for a team that is built on solidity.

“We have to accept criticism and accept reality. We want to do better because it’s very difficult to get to the end of the season like this. We have to defend better and we have to look for solutions, without going crazy after drastic changes.

“It’s good that the players are down like I am. We can all think about how to improve our version. We are confident that this team will improve.”

-Reuters

As Ruben Amorim was being hoisted into the air by his Sporting players after an outstanding 4-1 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday, fans of Manchester United would have had double reason to be smiling broadly.

Any City defeat these days acts as a crumb of comfort for the Old Trafford faithful whose club have fallen from grace since the departure of serial trophy winner Alex Ferguson in 2013.

But the fact that Sporting’s victory was masterminded by Amorim, the coach who will begin his Manchester United reign next week after agreeing to become Erik ten Hag’s replacement, will have made it extra special.

Amorim’s Sporting side were outplayed for the opening 35 minutes by City but showed great resolve, flair and intelligence to hit back from a goal down to sweep to victory and move into second place in the Champions League group phase.

It was a magical way for the 39-year-old to mark his final home game in charge and he will bid a final farewell at the weekend away to Braga as Sporting try to make it 11 wins from 11 in the Portuguese top flight.

“Looking at the game, it was written on the wall,” Amorim, who has won two Portuguese titles in four years at Sporting, told reporters. “The opponent missing a penalty. There are days when things have to happen in a certain way.

“I couldn’t ask for a better farewell. I’m very happy for this moment. It will still be better if we win in Braga, but I don’t think I could ask for better.

“The result helped with the farewell. Everyone deserved this moment. We were very happy here in the (Jose) Alvalade (Stadium). We’ve been through difficult times and to finish like this is special.”

Tuesday’s win would have already earned him some kudos among the Manchester United fans but he faces a huge test of his credentials with the club languishing in 13th place in the Premier League table after 10 games.

His first game in charge will be against Ipswich Town after the international break and he will be up against Pep Guardiola and Manchester City again in December. He knows the challenge will be a bigger one to that in Lisbon where he says he has enjoyed the “best phase of his life”.

“When I’m at the next club, the approach will have to be different. Not much is taken from here because we will have to play differently in the future,” he said.

“Both are historic clubs. It will certainly be a different game.”

Amorim has jokingly been referred to as the next Ferguson and if he turns out even half as good as the Scot then United’s long-suffering fans will be ecstatic.

He said he is not interested in comparisons though and vowed not to read the newspapers once he arrives in England.

“I’m certainly not going to read anything for six months. I did the same at Sporting. I’m not going to read anything or have access to anything. It’s the only way to do my job.” he said.

And on the future for Sporting, he said his replacement will inherit a strong foundation.

“The coach who comes will have a good legacy. Above all, there will be a structured club, which has won in recent years, and an intelligent audience that will realise that it will be necessary to give the next coach time to fine-tune some things.”

-Reuters

Kylian Mbappe was always going to leave an enormous void when he left Paris Saint-Germain, and the French side are struggling in this season’s Champions League without the goals of their former star.

While the striker is now at Real Madrid after scoring a club-record 256 goals in seven seasons in Paris, his old club entertain Atletico Madrid on Nov 6 in a crucial game in their European campaign.

PSG are misfiring in this new-look Champions League, with just four points from three games, despite starting with kind home fixtures against Girona and PSV Eindhoven either side of a trip to Arsenal.

Luis Enrique’s team beat Girona 1-0 only thanks to a late own goal, despite 26 attempts during that game.

That was followed by a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal in a performance which suggested a rejuvenated PSG side are now a long way from being contenders to win European club football’s greatest prize.

Then came a 1-1 draw against PSV, another game in which they managed 26 attempts and in which they paid a price for poor finishing.

PSG need only finish in the top 24 places in this 36-team league in order to reach the play-off round, and it seems reasonable to suggest that two wins from their remaining five fixtures may be enough to ensure that.

However, failure to beat Atletico would leave the Ligue 1 champions in an uncomfortable position with their next game away to Bayern Munich.

“It is the worst group,” Enrique said after the game against PSV in reference to his team’s fixtures, with Red Bull Salzburg, Manchester City and VfB Stuttgart also still to come.

“We need to be prepared to improve what we can and keep going. But yes, it is difficult and of course I am worried.”

The Qatar-owned club are coping just fine without Mbappe in Ligue 1, as they sit six points clear at the top of the table having scored 29 goals in 10 matches.

Mbappe netted 44 times in 48 appearances last season, even if he often struggled to produce his best form.

Nevertheless, PSG’s difficulties in front of goal in the Champions League date back to last season’s semi-finals when Mbappe was still there.

They were favourites to beat Borussia Dortmund, but lost 2-0 on aggregate. PSG had a grand total of 45 attempts on goal across the two legs and failed to score.

This season they have two goals from 62 attempts in Europe, and will have to be more clinical against Diego Simeone’s Atletico, the best defence in Spain.

Bradley Barcola, the 22-year-old France international left-winger, is now PSG’s main attacking threat with eight goals this season, while Ousmane Dembele has contributed five from the right.

“We must not have one player on whom all the pressure lies,” Enrique added of Barcola, admitting that the biggest issue is the lack of a reliable centre-forward.

Goncalo Ramos was in line to be the first choice in that position, but he picked up an ankle injury minutes into the campaign and is yet to return.

Randal Kolo Muani was signed from Eintracht Frankfurt for €90 million (S$129 million) at the start of last season but has never settled at PSG, despite producing good form for France.

Things have become so bad for Kolo Muani that he has been an unused substitute in the last two games, and a departure in January looks increasingly likely.

“I count on all my players,” insisted Enrique, who has more often deployed either Marco Asensio or Lee Kang-in as a false nine.

In any case, the former Barcelona coach has played down major concerns about his team despite being worried.

“We are scoring more goals, picking up more points, I don’t see any problems,” he said.

“There has maybe been one match in the Champions League in which we were not up to standard but we were much better than our opponents in the other two games.”

Despite that, the coach and his team will ultimately be judged above all on their results in the Champions League, and the pressure is growing.

While PSG have issues in front of goal, Giuliano Simeone, the son of Atletico coach Diego, could play a key part after scoring in the 2-0 Spanish La Liga win over Las Palmas over the weekend.

The striker, deployed on the right wing by his father, burst into the box and swept the ball into the far corner for the team’s first goal.

“Giuliano I see as a football player,” said Diego.

“From the first moment that we decided he would stay with us (in the squad) this season, it’s with the intention that he can help us. He has a responsibility and not a name, I look at it that way… those who run most, play, and those who don’t, play less.”

-AFP