Carlo Ancelotti has admitted his derby rivals Atletico Madrid had the advantage in the Copa del Rey round-of-16 clash at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Thursday night.

Both sides had played in the Supercopa semi-final in Riyadh last week, with Real Madrid going on to play Barcelona in the final on Sunday.

Atletico Madrid had extra days of rest, and Ancelotti believes it was a disadvantage to his side.

He said: “We were at a disadvantage against Atlético because they had a week to prepare for the game and physically they had a bit more energy.

“But we competed until the 120th minute and it didn’t look like we were tired. Now we have two weeks to work well and improve our fitness.”

Ancelotti seemed pleased with his team’s performance, and claimed that no one deserved to lose the tie.

The Italian analysed the game, thus: “It’s not easy to weigh up this match. We played well, we competed until the end, we fought hard and we came back from a goal down twice.

“There were lots of chances, two crossbars and a disallowed goal. We lost the game when we took unnecessary risks, we lost possession and they punished us. It was a very good game on our part.

“We couldn’t have done more, for a range of reasons. We have to think about recovering well and trying to win on Sunday.”

He concluded: “Atlético, like us, made a tremendous effort. Nobody deserved to lose. We lost, but we have to look forward. We gave everything, I have nothing to reproach my players for. As in all derbies there are disputes, but in the “end it was a good game.”