Carlo Ancelotti admitted Real Madrid were “still on holiday” as they suffered a shock 1-0 loss at relegation-battling Getafe in La Liga on Sunday.
Madrid’s surprise defeat is their first in three months and gives fresh hope to the beleaguered chasing pack in Spain, after Eder Militao’s early error allowed Enes Unal to score the winner at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.
Sevilla, Madrid’s closest challengers, will be five points behind the leaders with a game in hand if they win at Cadiz on Sunday. Getafe stay 16th after recording only their fourth league victory of the season.
“We were on holiday for an extra day,” said Ancelotti afterwards. “The team was not the same team that played before Christmas — less commitment, less concentration.
“We didn’t deserve to lose but we ended up with a defeat that could be a wake-up call.”
Madrid have taken command of the Spanish title race after a superb run of form that included 10 consecutive wins and 15 matches without defeat, their last loss coming at Espanyol on October 3.
But Ancelotti’s side were woefully out of sorts in their first outing of 2022 and, aside from a brief spell in the first half, struggled really even to threaten the Getafe goal.
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