Carlo Ancelotti always wears his signature suit and tie and is usually the picture of calm on the Bernabeu touchline.

But after Raphinha scored to make it 0-4 against Barcelona in the first El Classico of the season, the demure Italian prepared for his counterpart, Hansi Flick, to wave a finger in his face.

Afterwards, the coach explained that he was not happy with the Catalan team’s staff pouring into Real Madrid’s technical area, where they were celebrating the fourth goal.

Ancelotti said his counterpart agreed the “unfriendly behaviour” was outside the rules but played down the clash.

He also tried to soften the significance of the embarrassing defeat against the European champion’s most hated rivals.

“We played a first half with intensity. We could have scored (but) we lacked some accuracy,” the Italian said after the match.

“When they scored, they scored two goals that took away all our energy. At the back we took more risks and they found many more chances on the counter-attack.

“For 60 minutes we competed very well, and we have to forget the last 30 minutes.”

Ancelotti denied the approach had been wrong and rejected comparisons with the embarrassing defeat to Lille in the Champions League.

“I don’t regret my game plan. I’ve been in football for 48 years so I’m not wrong when I say the first half was good,” he said.

“It’s different from the defeat against Lille. We were very bad that day. We participated today.”

He also highlighted what happened the last time Barcelona humiliated Real on their own pitch.

“The last time we lost 4-0 to Barcalona, ​​we won La Liga and the Champions League. We continue to fight,” he added.

“We have to learn from that. Self-criticism is fundamental. But we don’t throw everything in the trash.”

However, mentioning that loss without the context surrounding it is misleading.

When Barcelona last defeated their rivals in 2022, Real Madrid were 9 points clear at the top of the table, a full dozen ahead of their opponent that night.

In the context of that season’s title race, it was quite an anomaly to be left out of the equation almost as soon as the final whistle blew.

This season’s defeat is much more significant as it comes early in the season and gives Barcelona a six-point lead at the top of the table.

It also points to the greater fallibility at Real Madrid since the arrival of Kylian Mbappé.

The Mbappé factor: no sparkle so far

Real Madrid’s search for Kylian Mbappe took so long that the club was virtually without a striker last season as they waited to sign him.

In the absence of a top striker, Carlo Ancelotti demonstrated his underrated tactical talent by devising a system in which Jude Bellingham was the figurehead, capable of scoring goals and holding the ball up to play in Vinicius Junior.

The idea that bringing in one of the best players in the world would disrupt the team’s performance felt ridiculous. After all, Mbappe literally replaced no one; he filled a void.

But against teams set up to frustrate, like Lille, and against teams trying to dominate, like Barca, Madrid falls short.

Ahead of the match against Barcelona, ​​Ancelotti was forced to deny suggestions that Mbappe’s performances had been anything but up to scratch.

“We are satisfied,” Ancelotti said.

“(Mbappe) has scored goals, he is very important for the team. He is looking for his best form. We are not in a hurry, and neither is he. It is clear that he will do better because he has all the qualities to do better.”

“He has experience, he has played against Barcelona many times. He knows what to do.

“His way of preparing for a match is to be very calm and very straightforward. He believes a lot in his qualities. We are confident that he will contribute something to the team (Saturday), and that also applies to it.”

But he didn’t, and against Barcelona it wasn’t just Mbappe who looked strange; Jude Bellingham has continued his trend of performing less effectively since the Frenchman joined.

His manager denied that lower-scoring Bellingham was any cause for concern and said it was more a result of a combination of system changes and fitness issues.

“He is doing very well, making progress. His fitness is very good now, even if he is not scoring goals. His job is very important and he knows it very well,” Ancelotti said.

“Last year we lost an important striker like Karim (Benzema) and replaced him with the goals of Jude, Brahim (Diaz) and Joselu. Now we have a striker who can score 35 or 40 goals.”

In the aftermath of this painful loss comes the moment of truth for this Kylian Mbappé Real Madrid.

Ancelotti must prove that these are teething problems and not an indication that the Frenchman’s presence has unbalanced the team, as his previous side, Paris Saint-Germain, so often did.