Tensions rising at Real Madrid before Villarreal test

REAL Madrid host Villarreal today aiming to get their La Liga campaign back on track after a punishing derby defeat last weekend.

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Xabi Alonso's side's perfect start to the campaign came to a juddering halt with a 5-2 beating by rivals Atletico Madrid, with the repercussions from it felt over the past week.

The coach was keen to move on after admitting his team deserved to lose, but some Madrid players have been ruminating on it.

Striker Kylian Mbappe said Madrid "cannot forget" what happened and had to keep working to avoid having another night in the same vein, after thrashing Kazakh minnows Kairat on Tuesday in the Champions League.

Midfielder Fede Valverde cited a lack of "attitude" multiple times when asked about the derby loss and said players had spoken among themselves and with the staff about it.

Alonso said just blaming the team's attitude was "too simplistic", and also dropped Valverde for the game against Kairat.

The Uruguayan midfielder had been tipped to fill in at right-back after Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dani Carvajal's injuries, as he has done before, but insisted he was "not born to play" in the position.