Real Madrid Wants To Show A Different Face Against Manchester City In The Champions League

Real Madrid are determined to rise against Manchester City in the Champions League (Instagram/@realmadrid).

JAKARTA - Xabi Alonso said Real Madrid were angry after a 0-2 loss to Celta Vigo in LaLiga. He criticized the referee's performance after two red cards and asked the team to react in the Champions League match against Manchester City on Thursday, December 11, 2025, early morning WIB.

Williot Swedberg scored twice for Celta at the Santiago Bernabeu. Meanwhile, Real Madrid lost centre-back Eder Militao to injury in the first half, as well as defenders Fran Garcia and Alvaro Carreras were sent off.

This result left Real Madrid four points behind Barcelona at the top of LaLiga's standings and put pressure on Alonso, who have won only one win in the last five league games.

"We are angry, this is not the game or the result we want. Militao's injury is very painful for us and difficult to recover."

"We tried to adjust, but the game was not what we wanted. We have to get up as soon as possible, there are still many league games left. We will face Manchester City in the Champions League to react and remove the bad feeling from our mouths," said Alonso.

Alonso further said he was unhappy with the performance of referee Alejandro Quintero, who expelled Garcia after giving him two yellow cards in two minutes. Later, the judge also expelled Carreras in injury time for allegedly committing a foul.

"I don't like the performance (of the referee). With a card for Alvaro (Carreras), I don't know, it's very debatable."

"The referee is too fast (to make a decision). I don't like that, it's out of control," said the Spaniard.

Alonso, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti as Real Madrid coach last summer, refused to blame his players for disappointing the team.

"We are all responsible, we are all together. This is everyone's responsibility, not just the players, the coaches, we all have to do everything well."

"(Loss) three points, it hurts, we are angry, we want to be in a higher position (in the standings) than it is today, but the journey is still long," he said.

Real Madrid seem to have bounced back from LaLiga's streak of three games in a row with a win in the middle of the week over Athletic Club, but the loss to Celta was a significant setback.

"That's not what we expected. We plan to play with a good rhythm. We're short on a few things. We're close to achieving our best form with 10 players."

"Initially, things didn't go the way we wanted. We had to show a different face on Wednesday (against Manchester City)," said Alonso.