Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has criticised his players for their performance in Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Espanyol in La Liga.

Raul de Tomas sent Espanyol ahead in the 17th minute of the contest before Aleix Vidal doubled the home side's advantage on the hour.

Karim Benzema got his name on the scoresheet for Los Blancos in the 71st minute, but the capital giants could not turn the match around in the latter stages, with the defeat following Wednesday's shock home reverse to Sheriff Tiraspol in the Champions League.

Ancelotti has claimed that the performance was 'the worst of the season so far', and the Italian is preparing to ask some difficult questions over the international break.

"We played badly, there's not much more to say. We began the game with an idea, but we weren't able to stay calm and stick with it," Ancelotti told reporters.

"After the goal there was a lot of confusion. It was our worst game [of the season so far]. Now we have the international break and we have to reflect and find out why the team's attitude changed in a week."

Real Madrid will be looking to return to winning ways in La Liga when they welcome Athletic Bilbao to the Bernabeu on October 16. body check tags ::