Real Madrid’s players have ‘lost faith’ in one of their teammates after he performed poorly in Sunday’s 5-2 Supercopa de Espana final defeat against Barcelona.
Hansi Flick’s side swept Madrid aside with ease at King Abdullah Sports City to lift the Supercopa de Espana crown in Saudi Arabia.
Kylian Mbappe put Los Blancos ahead with just five minutes gone but by half time the European champions were 4-1 down thanks to strikes from Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Alejandro Balde.
Advert
Raphinha, 28, added a fifth just three minutes into the second half before Wojciech Szczęsny was shown a red card for a foul on Mbappe, 26.
Rodrygo, 24, scored a stunning free kick on the hour mark but this was not enough to muster a comeback.
Losing to Barcelona is never something you want on your resume as a Madrid player but the last two losses have been particularly embarrassing having previously played out a 4-0 loss against Barca at the Santiago Bernabeu in October.
Advert
The inquest has already begun in the Spanish capital, but one player in particular has come under fire for a poor performance.
Aurélien Tchouaméni was given a mere 2/10 rating by Managing Madrid for his performance on Sunday evening.
In his defence, he started as a centre-back alongside Antonio Rudiger despite typically playing as a holding midfielder.
He was shown a yellow card on 62 minutes and two minutes later was replaced by Luka Modric.
Advert
And this is not the first time Tchouaméni, 24, has been criticised this season but back in December, Ancelotti, 65, insisted that the France international was an “important” player.
“Aurelien has shown his usefulness at defensive level, as a centre-back or pivot,” said Ancelotti.
“He is a very important player for us because he also gives us height at set pieces, an important aspect of the game in which we have suffered.”
Advert
But fans on social media were less generous in their observations following the El Clasico defeat with Madrid Xtra referring to reports that "the dressing room have lost faith" in the 24-year-old.
One said: "This guy isn‘t even good enough for Getafe lmao i don‘t get why y'all are hyping him up all the time."
Another added: "Seems like Tchouaméni’s still searching for the right spot.....hopefully, it’s not the bench."
A third explained: "I just don’t understand why Ancelotti keeps playing a CDM as a CB when we have Asencio literally right there on the bench!"
Advert
Madrid are back in action on Thursday at the Bernabeu, where they will face Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey round of 16 before they face Las Palmas at home in La Liga on Sunday.
Topics: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Kylian Mbappe, Aurelien Tchouameni, El Clasico, Copa Del Rey, Champions League