The Real Madrid coach saw plenty of positives in the performance against Barcelona in Dallas

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted after his side's 3-0 defeat to Barcelona that it "hurts to lose" but that he prefers to focus on "the good things" they did that were not rewarded because of his side's lack of finishing.

"We did a lot of good things. The game was good, with and without the ball. We pressed well, we had chances, mobility... the bad thing was the result, we weren't well positioned on the set-piece in the first half and we didn't have balance with the other two goals. It hurts us to lose, but I'll focus on the good things we did. It's quite rare to have five shots off the post in a game," he said in the mixed zone.

"It looked like there was a wall in the Barça goal. At this point in the season, I put out a new team to see how the youngsters adapted to a demanding game. They delivered. It went well and we have to continue in this vein. Without a permanent striker, we have opportunities, mobility, they can get off the mark well... We're going to continue."

"I know what Modric and Kroos can contribute. The idea was to give more minutes to those who started the game and it will be the other way around in the next game."

Ancelotti also spoke about the injury to Ferland Mendy during the game and that of Arda Güler, who has left the camp due to a meniscus problem in his right leg.

"Arda Güler has a knee problem and hopefully he can solve it in Madrid; he couldn't play and it was better for him to go to Madrid to do an individual programme. Mendy has a problem with his hamstring and we'll see what it is. Hopefully, it's nothing serious," he said.

He also praised the youth of his team: "We haven't started the transition now. Little by little these players will become more important. I see a very good future for this team", he assured.

Finally, he explained how he is managing the choice of penalty taker after the departure of Karim Benzema, the man in charge of taking penalties in recent years, and after Brazilian Vinícius Junior missed one against Barcelona.

"We are testing. It could be him, today Modric was missing and he usually took them when Karim wasn't there... we are testing him; it could be Rodrygo as well... Vinícius missed today, but he takes them very well," he said.