Sports

La Liga: Ancelotti demands more from world-class strike force

Italian believes that lack of efficiency up front is causing Real’s slide after 1-0 loss to Bilbao

Afp March 08, 2015

Losing engine power: After securing a 22-game winning streak in January this year, Real Madrid have slumped in form and have lost four games and drawn one in all competitions. PHOTO: AFP

MADRID: Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti believes his star strike force of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema need to be more efficient in front of the goal after the European champions slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Madrid's fifth league defeat of the season came hot on the heels of a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal as they have ceded the advantage in the La Liga title race to Barcelona.

"I think the problem we are having at the moment is quite clear. It is not a defensive problem, it is an offensive problem. We are not finding a way through like we did in the games before. We've only scored one goal from a penalty in two games," said Ancelotti. "That is the problem we have to fix. We lack efficiency up front."

Los Blancos have badly missed the creative talents of Luka Modric and James Rodriguez in recent weeks through injury, and Ancelotti wants more speed injected into his side's forward play.

"There is no connection. There is too much individual play, we are looking for individual solutions,” he added. “We need another way of attacking, more combinations between players, to try to play quicker and with fewer touches.”

Ancelotti himself has come under some criticism for his inability to halt Madrid's slide in recent months after a 22-game winning streak to end a trophy-laden 2014.

And the Italian admitted that as the coach he has to burden most of the blame.

"I have a big part of the blame because I am the coach. There are some coaches that say 'this isn't my team' when the team plays badly, but I am saying this is my team that it is playing badly,” he added.

Madrid have just a fortnight to refind their form before travelling to face Barca in a potentially decisive match in the title race on March 22.

However, firstly they must see off Schalke at the Bernabeu on Tuesday to seal their place in the last eight of the Champions League for a fifth consecutive season.

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