Carlo Ancelotti said criticism of Real Madrid’s 1-0 Champions League defeat at Lille was “fair” and the team “should not look for excuses” after struggling against the Ligue 1 side.

Jonathan David’s penalty just before half-time – after the VAR spotted Eduardo Camavinga’s handball – was the only goal of the game on Wednesday.

Endrick and Vinícius Júnior had chances for Madrid in the first half, while Jude Bellingham, Antonio Rüdiger and Arda Güler all came close in the closing stages.

“The opponent played better and deserved to win,” Ancelotti said in his post-match press conference. “In terms of duels, intensity, consistency. We have to learn what we need to improve, which is quite obvious, it’s not very complicated.”

“Everything was pretty bad today. We were bad with the ball. It was difficult for us to win the ball back. It was difficult for us to change. We had to be more aggressive.”

“The feeling today is that it was difficult for us to control the ball. Our possession was quite slow and we had few ideas. We have strikers who have to play more vertically. If it is difficult for you to control the ball, it will be difficult to move forward slowly, that is a problem.

“I don’t know if we lacked aggression or creativity,” said goalkeeper Andriy Lunin. “Maybe we should have fought a little harder. In the second half we were hungrier and we improved.”

This means Madrid have three points from two Champions League group phase games so far and are in 17th place in the 36-team table.

“The sadness comes from the team’s feeling that it wasn’t a good game,” Ancelotti said. “It wasn’t a good night, we shouldn’t look for excuses, we have to improve.”

“I’m being completely honest. The criticism of today’s game is fair, right, we have to accept it.”

Positively for Madrid, it was Endrick’s first Champions League appearance after the striker scored on his competitive debut as a substitute against Stuttgart.

Endrick became the youngest Madrid player ever to start the Champions League, breaking Raul Gonzalez’s record of 18 years and 73 days.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Endrick told Movistar. “I play for the biggest club in the world. It’s hard to play from the beginning. It’s very important for me, I’m very happy about it, but not about the defeat.”