Ancelotti: We were worthy winners

Head coach Carlo Ancelotti believes Real Madrid deserved their Champions League victory at Ludogorets despite enduring a rude awakening in Bulgaria.

The European champions were left shell-shocked in Razgrad as Marcelinho fired a seventh-minute opener, but Cristiano Ronaldo - having missed a 10th-minute penalty - soon responded to level from his second spot-kick of the evening.

Real struggled to grab a second goal - Javier Hernandez missed an open net - with Karim Benzema waiting until the 77th minute to fire the winner.

The 2-1 triumph sent the Spanish club three points clear of Basle and Ludogorets at the top of Group B.

A relieved Ancelotti told Real's official website: "In general I'm very happy because we deserved to win, since we had a lot of chances to score. It was a good match.

"We had a hard time when we conceded the goal at the start, but we pressed up front, won back a lot of balls with our pressing and had a lot of chances."

Los Blancos were caught cold from a corner as Marcelinho headed Aleksandar Aleksandrov's delivery home.

Ancelotti added: "Their goal is very similar to the ones we conceded against Atletico and Real Sociedad. We have to cover the near post more.

"Today our best headers of the ball were out there to cover the near post, like Ronaldo or (Gareth) Bale, but we conceded a goal again."