Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso called on his team to bounce back quickly after a painful defeat by Celta Vigo on Sunday when they face Manchester City in the Champions League.

Los Blancos have won just two of their last seven games across all competitions and were beaten 2-0 at home by Celta in La Liga, leaving them four points behind leaders Barcelona.

Madrid finished the game with nine men after red cards for Fran Garcia and Alvaro Carreras, ahead of the clash with Pep Guardiola’s City in Europe on Wednesday.

“We are all angry, evidently this was not the game we wanted, it was not the result we wanted,” Alonso told reporters at the Bernabeu.

“We have to try and turn the page as quickly as possible. It’s only three points.

“We have the Champions League game against City to react in, and get this bad taste out of our mouths.”

Alonso’s side have struggled for form in recent weeks, leading to speculation over his future at the club in Spanish media.

Asked if he was playing for his future against City, Alonso insisted it was only the points at stake.

“We’re playing for three points in the Champions League, in a competition we’re in a good position in, and that’s what we’re playing for,” continued Alonso.

“But we want to play well, we want to play a good game, we want to show we can play a lot better than we did today. We know that.”

With the juicy European battle against Erling Haaland’s City approaching, Alonso chose to rest centre-back Antonio Rudiger, starting with Carreras in the heart of defence.

Rudiger’s break did not last long, with the German defender coming on midway through the first half after Militao pulled up injured.

Raul Asencio started at right-back after Trent Alexander-Arnold was sidelined for two months with a thigh injury, continuing a tough start to life in the Spanish capital for the former Liverpool defender.

Celta Vigo goalkeeper Ionut Radu made a handful of good saves in the first half, keeping out a Jude Bellingham header and Arda Guler’s drive from range.

Madrid were struggling to create serious danger as Celta set up in a tough-to-crack low defensive block, denying dangerous forwards Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior space.

Guler missed Madrid’s best chance of the first half, with the Turkish playmaker sending a shot wide on the swivel after Mbappe teed him up.

Radu also thwarted Vinicius after Aurelien Tchouameni chopped a ball in behind the defence for the Brazilian to run onto, a rare crack in Celta’s armour.

Celta’s Romanian goalkeeper turned away a fierce Fede Valverde effort from distance early in the second half, before Celta stunned the hosts.

Bryan Zaragoza crossed from the left for Swedberg, who produced a gorgeous flicked finish to beat Thibaut Courtois to send the Galicians ahead.

Celta’s Romanian goalkeeper turned away a fierce Fede Valverde effort from distance early in the second half, before Celta stunned the hosts.

Bryan Zaragoza crossed from the left for Swedberg, who produced a gorgeous flicked finish to beat Thibaut Courtois to send the Galicians ahead.

“I did not like the refereeing,” said Alonso.

With Madrid down to nine and in disarray, Celta wrapped up their win as Swedberg rounded Courtois and ran the ball home.

“(This was) tremendous… we read the game very well, we had some luck in the chances that we had, but we did well,” Celta’s Iglesias told Movistar.

“With the team they have and their quality, it’s hard to equal them, but we read it well, we had the ball, we played in their half, we played a great game.”

Espanyol continued their superb start to the season with a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano to climb up to fifth.
Roberto Fernandez netted a first-half penalty for Manolo Gonzalez’s team at the RCDE Stadium in Cornella as they won a third straight league game.

Espanyol trail fourth-place Atletico Madrid by four points, having played one game fewer than Diego Simeone’s team.