Real Madrid: Carlo Ancelotti says team still struggling despite win over Stuttgart

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said the 15-time European Champions are not at their best despite claiming a 3-1 win over German side VfB Stuttgart in their opening match in the new Champions League format on Tuesday.

The defending champions needed late goals from Antonio Rudiger and Endrick to get them across the line after German forward Deniz Undav cancelled out Kylian Mbappe’s opener for the home side at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Ancelotti, who has led Los Blancos to Champions League triumph on three occasions, said his side are still trying to find their rhythm and although they showed glimpses of what they can do, they are “not at their best yet”.

He said: “We’re still trying to find the best version of ourselves. We did very well at some moments although we didn’t start the game so well.

“They put a lot of pressure on us, switched the play a lot, they were winning the duels, but we took control of the game after 20 minutes. We scored at the start of the second half and the game might have been over with a couple of transitions that could have been better, but they equalised, and we had the strength to dig deep and win this very important game.

“If anyone thinks that winning games in the Champions League is easy, they’re wrong. I’ve managed in more than 200 games in the competition, and I can’t remember any of them without having to dig deep. Real Madrid know exactly what it means to win a Champions League by digging deep.”

Mbappe and Endrick both opened their Champions League account with Madrid, with the latter becoming the club’s youngster scorer in the competition’s history.

Los Merengues are currently fifth in the Champions League standings with three points, and they will be in action on Saturday, when they host Espanyol on matchday six in La Liga, where they are third with 11 points, tied with Atletico Madrid in second and four points behind leaders Barcelona.