Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti explained playing David Alaba at left-back for defeat at Espanyol.

Real Madrid lost 2-1 on Sunday with Ancelotti admitting they appeared "disorganised".

On Alaba's role, the coach said: "I thought he could help in the attacking side of things. He did, he pushed forward a lot. There were moments when we weren't balanced on that side, but it wasn't his fault. The midfield has to cover positions and sometimes we weren't in the right places."

He continued: "The way we set up was pretty clear. I'm not here to explain the set up to you, but I agree that the team looked disorganised. We didn't have the right balance in possession and we have to put that right.

"I've already spoken about it with the players and they agree. We tried to do our thing but not in an aggressive way, we lost a lot of duels, we weren't very direct on the ball. I'm referring to the technical and tactical parts of our performance."