'I am not sure he can turn things around' - Predrag Mijatovic takes brutal aim at Carlo Ancelotti as Real Madrid's struggles continue

Mijatovic has taken aim at Ancelotti and believes the Italian doesn't have the ability to turn around what is shaping up to be a dismal campaign for the defending LaLiga and Champions League champions.

Pressure has been mounting on Ancelotti to revitalise the squad — one that many expected to become near invincible with the arrival of Kylian Mbappe — and turn things around in what is turning out to be a below par campaign for Los Blancos.

Successive losses at home to Barcelona (4-0) and AC Milan (3-1) have raised eyebrows and there have been murmurs in the Spanish capital that Ancelotti's time in the Madrid hotseat could be coming to a rather unexpected end, with the team playing well below the level everyone expected them to be at.

They are already nine points behind Barcelona, albeit with a game in hand, and face the prospect of missing out on automatic progression to the Round of 16 in the brand-new format of the Champions League.

"The feeling I have is that the team has gotten out of hand for Ancelotti. With the changes he has made, he didn't know where to take the team or how to react. In addition to the two to three splendid years they have had, the time has come that the team has relaxed a little. Solutions? Very few. I don't know if he has the capacity to react and restart the situation to motivate the players," Mijatovic said on Cadena SER's El Carrusel program (as quoted by SPORT), following Madrid's 3-1 loss to AC Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League earlier this week.

"There are players who are unhappy, who play less than they thought. Then, the press asks for more minutes for [Arda] Guler and Endrick. [Jude] Bellingham started very well and now he is not as fine [Kylian] Mbappe and Vinicius [Jr.] want to play on the same wing... I am worried about the situation. Ancelotti cannot tell his players 'you have to do what I say'. He is listening to too many opinions and does not have a position as he did in other years."

Focus will now turn towards LaLiga, where Real Madrid will take on Osasuna on Saturday, November 9. The reigning Spanish champions will have to start with a win against Los Rojillos, who are one of the in-form teams this season.