'Praise weakens' - Dani Carvajal and Xabi Alonso admit Real Madrid are rebuilding after hammering by Atletico Madrid

Dani Carvajal did not mince his words after Real Madrid were humbled 5-2 by Atletico Madrid for their first defeat of the Liga season. The visitors briefly led through Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler but drew a blank in the second half as Atletico netted three to secure the win and afterwards manager Xabi Alonso urged fans to remember the side are rebuilding as Carvajal admitted "praise weakens".

Real Madrid captain Dani Carvajal admitted "we are screwed" as he and manager Xabi Alonso said Los Blancos came face-to-face with the reality of a tough rebuild following their 5-2 hammering by city rivals Atletico Madrid.

Los Blancos briefly held the lead after Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler struck 11 minutes apart but following Alexander Sorloth’s equaliser in first-half stoppage time, the second half was all Atletico.

Julian Alvarez scored twice including a vengeful penalty in the first meeting between the sides since Atletico’s loss in the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 derby, where the Argentine double-kicked a pivotal spot-kick in the shoot-out before his team were eliminated.

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However, the margins were much wider on Saturday at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano where Conor Gallagher played over 20 minutes as a substitute, and Carvajal did not mince his words afterwards.

"We are screwed, I am telling you, few words will console us, but tomorrow the sun will rise and we will work hard," Carvajal told media outlets including Marca. "Let this defeat sting us. We have to use it for this and carry it inside to draw out our courage.

"Praise weakens, and today we were hit with the reality that the team is rebuilding and still has a lot to improve. Atletico was much better, and we have to accept it and work harder."

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Real Madrid face Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League in November and got their chase of a 16th title off to a triumphant start against Marseille, winning 2-1 thanks to two Mbappe penalties despite Carvajal seeing red with 20 minutes to go.

Los Blancos had not lost to The Reds since 2009 before Liverpool comfortably beat them 2-0 in the league phase last season.

And with Trent Alexander-Arnold facing an uphill battle to return from injury and face his boyhood club, Alonso admitted Atletico deserved to win and that his side are still rebuilding.

"It was a bad game," Alonso said in his press conference.

"We did not start well and we did not play well collectively nor did we show our quality level with or without the ball. We are in a construction phase and this is our first defeat.

"We need to learn from this for the future. We're hurting because it was a deserved defeat. We missed a gear and the defeat hurts.

"It's a positive setback for the future. We've been too weak in duels and when playing long balls, and we haven't found solutions with the ball. It was a poor performance overall and a deserved defeat. That's football, and defeats happen sometimes. It was our first, and we're certainly going to learn from it.

"The defeat was deserved, and there are no complaints about the refereeing. It's our first defeat, and it's painful. We're all hurting. We feel very responsible, and now we have to look ahead. We're just starting the season, and this isn't the level we want to perform at."

Despite the loss, Real remained on top of La Liga at least until Barcelona host Real Sociedad on Sunday, while Atletico joined Los Blancos in the top four.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

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