Ancelotti hopes league draw kicks up Madrid in Europe

Spanish club Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said his side squandered any chance of winning the La Liga during their 2-2 draw with Valencia, but praised his team’s performance despite not getting a favourable result.

Real Madrid fought back from 0-2 down to draw 2-2 at their home ground on Saturday, and but for a titanic display from Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves could have completed a heroic fightback with a winning goal, which would have left them just two points behind leaders FC Barcelona in the fight for the league title, reports Xinhua.

As things now stand, Barcelona lead by four points with just two matches left to play.

It means a third consecutive year without the league title for Madrid, who now have to overturn a 1-2 deficit against Juventus at home on Wednesday in order to qualify for the final of Champions league.

“It wasn’t a good result, but we played well,” said Ancelotti after the game on Saturday.

“We created a lot of chances to score and we fought to the end and we could and should have won, but things will be OK on Wednesday,” he said.

This performance could be an extra motivation for Wednesday,” added Ancelotti, who nevertheless said his side needed to cure the defensive errors which cost his side dearly against Valencia.

The bad news for Madrid was a hip injury suffered by midfielder Tony Kroos, who is doubtful for the Juventus game.

“He has pain when he kicks the ball, so we have to see how he develops,” commented the coach.