Real Madrid endured a frustrating night against Real Betis, suffering a disappointing defeat that could see them slip to third place in La Liga by the end of the game week.

The performance was far from their usual high standards, and manager Carlo Ancelotti did not shy away from addressing the issues after the match.

One of the major talking points was the early substitution of Kylian Mbappé, who was taken off after 75 minutes. The French forward struggled to make an impact, and Ancelotti later explained the decision to replace him.

“Substituting Mbappé so early? He had this problem (with his tooth). He hasn’t trained much and he wasn’t at his best,” Ancelotti said. “I preferred to take him off and bring on Endrick, who is in good form.”

Beyond Mbappé’s struggles, the entire Real Madrid squad looked disjointed, lacking the cohesion they had shown in recent weeks.

Ancelotti acknowledged this, admitting that his team failed to replicate their recent organisation and fluidity.

“We hope this game will wake us up for the next one. It seemed like we were more organised and cohesive recently, but today we couldn’t do it like in previous games,” he added.

The loss serves as a warning sign for Los Blancos, who will need to regroup quickly if they want to keep their title ambitions alive. With La Liga’s title race heating up, Madrid cannot afford another off night like this.