Madrid, March 11 (IANS): Although Real Madrid scraped their way into the quarter-finals of the Champions League 5-4 on aggregate against German side Schalke 04 on Tuesday night, something is going desperately wrong with the side.
That was highlighted by Madrid's 4-3 home defeat on the night in arguably one of their worst European displays for years. One of the moments of lows saw the players panic every time the ball went into their penalty area before being booed and whistled off the pitch by their angry fans, reports Xinhua.
Only two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo saved Madrid from humiliation and it has escaped nobody's attention that Tuesday's defeat comes on the back of a 0-1 defeat away to Athletic Club Bilbao and a 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal in La Liga.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti is under pressure to find solutions, but for the moment retains his faith in the players.
"I know what the team is capable of giving. We need to continue working and concentrate on the job in hand. All of us need to do a lot more. I have spoken to the players about it," he said.
Following Saturday's defeat in Bilbao, Ancelotti had said the problems were in the slow buildup to Madrid's attacks. After the Schalke defeat, he saw another weakness. "We need to look at our defense, that's where all our errors were," said the coach.
Ancelotti questioned a lack of organisation and also confidence.
"We've got problems in a lot of areas -- in attack, in defense, in impulse, desire, concentration...." he admitted.
The coach insisted that he never thought Madrid could be going out of the tournament adding he believed the players still had confidence in him and that he didn't fear for his job.
Goalkeeper Iker Casillas also showed some self-criticism. Although he could have done better in Schalke's second goal, he probably saved them from crashing out of the competition.
"We have hit rock bottom," said the Madrid captain, who then looked on the bright side.
"The positive thing is that we are in the draw and can forget about the last 10 days," he added.