Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said he was not worried after his side survived a late comeback in a 3-2 home win over Deportivo Alaves in La Liga on Tuesday.

Alaves scored twice in the last few minutes but Ancelotti looked for the positives, praising his side’s performance in taking a three-goal lead and creating several chances to win by a larger margin.

“This is football and when you think the game is over, get distracted and allow your rival to score, you give your rival a confidence boost while your own confidence is shaken. It’s something that happens all the time in football and it won’t stop happening,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“Sure, we don’t want that to happen to us, nobody does, but we need to highlight that for over 80 minutes our team played really, really well and that is what gives us confidence moving forward.

“For over an hour the team played very well, looking for opportunities in different ways, in transition, filtering passes through the opponent’s lines... The team is improving, it’s good for us because the schedule is very demanding. Sunday’s game (at Atletico Madrid) will also be very demanding.”

Unbeaten after nine games in all competitions since the start of the season, Ancelotti’s Real are second in the LaLiga standings on 17 points.

Real will be back in action against Atletico, who are fourth on 12 points and will play at Celta Vigo on Thursday before hosting their rivals on Sunday.

Mbappe’s goal was a beauty, with the France forward starting a give-and-go with Jude Bellingham with a heel flick and then picking up the pass inside the area and using a nifty move to clear a defender before finding the net in the 40th minute at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Ancelotti said he was delighted with the progress of Mbappe and praised Jude Bellingham’s performance after the pair combined well for the France striker to score Real’s second goal.

“(Mbappe) is being great, we are doing really well in attack,” Ancelotti said.

“(Bellingham) is growing, he gave the assist to Mbappe and played a very complete game. He needs to get used to playing a bit more inside the box, like he did last year.

“It’s more complicated against a team with a low block like Alaves. What I ask Bellingham is to do that kind of work, not to score goals. With the players we have, we can score at any moment.”

Lucas Vazquez and Rodrygo also scored for Madrid, who extended their unbeaten run in the league to 39 matches — with 29 wins and 10 draws going back to last season.

Alaves made a late charge by scoring with Carlos Benavidez in the 85th and Kike Garcoa in the 86th but couldn’t find the equaliser despite chances in the final minutes.

“We played a great match for 80 minutes, but we suffered more than we should have in the end,” Vazquez said.

Niguez’s injury

Sevilla midfielder Saul Niguez was carried off the field on a stretcher with an apparent leg injury early in the second half of Sevilla’s 2-1 home win over Valladolid.

Chidera Ejuke scored the winner in the 85th minute for Sevilla’s second victory in their past three league matches.

Valladolid’s only win this season came in their league opener against Espanyol.

Reuters, AP/PTI