Carlo Ancelotti has admitted that his Real Madrid team are struggling up front following this weekend's shock 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

An Aritz Aduriz header was enough to condemn the European champions to their third La Liga defeat in 2015.

Ancelotti is quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "There is no connection, there is too much individual play. It's strange to say Madrid have a problem up front when we have scored so many goals but I think it's the truth.

"The front three didn't play well, but it is not just their fault. We need to attack as a team. It is quite confusing what we are doing when we are attacking at the moment."

Real are now second in La Liga after Barcelona's 6-1 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano on Sunday allowed the Catalan giants to leapfrog their rivals at the summit.