Carlos Romero struck late for Espanyol's 1-0 win.
Afterwards, Ancelotti was fuming after Romero had escaped a red card after a challenge on Kylian Mbappe and said: “The decision made by the referee and the VAR is inexplicable. The most important thing is to protect the player and it was a clear foul, a really nasty tackle with a risk of injury. Fortunately, nothing happened, but there was a risk. The VAR is also there for this. We think the decision not to show a red card is inexplicable.”
“It was a difficult, tough game. We did some things well, we had good control, especially in the second half. We had a goal disallowed, hit the post and had 20 shots on goal. The game was under control, but Espanyol, who played very well on the counterattack, caught us off guard and scored. They had the game they wanted.”
On the referee's performance, Ancelotti also stated: “I don't want to talk about this issue. I'm only talking about what happened today in the match and, I repeat, we find the decision they took to be inexplicable when everyone could see it.
“Espanyol played really well. They defended very well, it was what they had to do. We could've done better, but it wasn't as bad as the result reflects. We had chances. We're still in the fight and we have to look to the next game.”