Carlo Ancelotti refused to single Karim Benzema out for criticism after the striker's penalty miss saw Real Madrid drop points in LaLiga for the first time this season against Osasuna.
Despite Benzema's return from a three-week injury lay-off, Madrid produced a disjointed performance on Sunday, squandering a first-half lead when Kike Garcia cancelled out Vinicius Junior's fortunate opener.
Benzema had the chance to fire Madrid to a seventh consecutive league victory when David Garcia was sent off for a push on the striker six yards out, but the France star crashed his spot-kick against the crossbar.
Osasuna's 10 men held on for a point in comfortable fashion thereafter, and Benzema has now missed three penalties against Jagoba Arrasate's team in LaLiga this year.
Ancelotti refused to blame Benzema for the result, however, and insisted Madrid had not performed badly, telling DAZN: "Karim usually scores.
"The match wasn't spectacular, but after the goal we conceded, the team played as it had to play.
"Karim had no problems starting to play 90 minutes. He has to get in the best shape by playing.
"It's a footballing accident that can sometimes happen. We've been quite solid at the back, we had a good balance, we hardly conceded any counter-attacks."
Osasuna have now claimed three draws against Madrid since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, more than any other team in LaLiga.
Madrid's failure to find a winning goal means they remain behind Barcelona on goal difference at the summit, and midfielder Dani Ceballos says they lacked dynamism in Sunday's draw.
"We wanted the three points, we tried until the end, but we have lost two points," he said. "We improved in the last minutes, but we have not been able to get the victory.
"We were not good facing the goal, nor with the ball, we lacked a bit of dynamism. We have another game on Wednesday [against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League] to face in a good way."
'Supercharged' Germany have big ambitions – Nagelsmann
Julian Nagelsmann hailed Germany's first-half display against the Netherlands as their best performance of 2024.
And Nagelsmann said his "supercharged" team have big ambitions after Monday's 1-0 win in Munich, which came a year to the day since he took charge of his first game - a 3-1 friendly win over the United States.
Germany are unbeaten in the Nations League after four games, and sit five points clear at the top of their group.
The Dutch did not manage a single shot in the first half, with Germany having eight themselves, albeit Nagelsmann's team had to wait until the 64th minute to make the breakthrough as Jamie Leweling marked his senior bow with the decisive goal.
"The first half tonight was the best we’ve played this year," said Nagelsmann.
"The greed that the team embodied was a huge step [forward].
"We did well and let very little in. We absolutely deserved to win.
"We've got the ambition to keep going. There's a supercharged atmosphere in the dressing room – they want to win."
An ecstatic Leweling told ZDF network: "We won as a team, I scored the 1-0, we won 1-0, but we did well and I'm just happy I could help out.
"The Dutch are a top nation, but we played a good game."
Leweling is the first debutant under Nagelsmann to score in his first appearance for Germany. Niclas Fullkrug was the last player to net on his senior debut, in 2022.
At the other end of the pitch, Nagelsmann handed a debut to goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.
Aged 34 years and 131 days, Baumann is the second-oldest Germany debutant (after Matthias Mauritz) in the post-war era and the oldest goalkeeper to make his debut for the national team.
Not that Baumann had much to do. Indeed, he had only one save to make, with the Netherlands mustering only one attempt on target and a meagre 0.13 expected goals.
Deschamps delighted with 'radiant' Kolo Muani
Didier Deschamps hailed a "radiant" Randal Kolo Muani after the forward's double helped France see off Belgium 2-1.
France made it three wins in a row in the Nations League on Monday, with Kolo Muani's goals doing the damage at Stade Roi Baudouin.
Kolo Muani converted a first-half penalty before heading home what proved to be the winner in the 62nd minute, after Lois Openda had restored parity.
Having also netted in the reverse fixture against Belgium last month, the Paris Saint-Germain forward is France's leading scorer in their Nations League campaign.
And with Kylian Mbappe absent, head coach Deschamps, who was handed an early birthday present by France's win, has been impressed by Kolo Muani's attitude and application.
Speaking to TF1, Deschamps said: "He's interesting, he's radiant.
"He is confident and has a very specific profile where in his runs with the ball has a presence. He is a good header [of the ball] and with us he is very often successful."
France have now won their last five matches against Belgium. Only against the Faroe Islands have Les Bleus had a longer winning streak (six games).
They had to do it the hard way, though, with stand-in captain Aurelien Tchouameni seeing red in the 76th minute.
Tchouameni became the first France player to be sent off since Jules Kounde in September 2021 (v Bosnia-Herzegovina), and the first as captain (from when the match kicked off) since Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final.
Belgium finished with 20 shots to France's 14 and more expected goals (2.64xG to 1.49xG), yet the visitors got the job done to move onto nine points from their four matches.
"We were shaken for the first 20 to 25 minutes," explained Deschamps, who turned 56 on Tuesday.
"Belgium put in a lot of intensity, while we made a lot of technical errors.
"When we were able to find solutions going forward, it was better for us.
"We had to shake the players up. It was mostly the mistakes, we had to calm down.
"We had to go forward and press well. Of course, they had chances, but so did we in the second half. We're happy to win this match, especially with 10 men."
Madrid update on Mbappe's recovery after questions over France absence
Kylian Mbappe was pictured by Real Madrid during an individual recovery programme amid growing questions over his France absence.
Madrid released a statement on Monday to update on the forward's recovery from a muscle issue that kept him out of France's October internationals squad.
Questions had persisted from reports in France after Mbappe was spotted in a Swedish nightclub on Thursday, when Didier Deschamps' side hammered Israel.
Deschamps insisted the matter was not an issue to discuss, though speculation remains over Mbappe's commitment to France, with reports suggesting he is prioritising Madrid and a potential Ballon d'Or.
Los Blancos seemingly sought to quash any growing murmurs of discontent by confirming Mbappe's appearance at the club before France's 2-1 win over Belgium in Brussels.
"Kylian Mbappe continues to work on his individual fitness plan," a short club statement read.
"The forward is working on his own as he tries to recover fully from the discomfort in the biceps femoris of his left leg.
"He trained on his own in the gym and out on the pitch at Real Madrid City, under the guidance of Antonio Pintus, who is in charge of the club's physical preparation."
Mbappe subsequently posted a picture on Instagram of him in the Madrid gym, captioned "back to work" as the former Paris Saint-Germain forward continues his recovery.
The 25-year-old was joined by goalkeeping pair Thibaut Courtois and Andriy Lunin before more of Carlo Ancelotti's squad return from international football on Tuesday.
Deschamps' men did not feel Mbappe's absence, however, as Randal Kolo Muani's brace secured the vital victory over Belgium to boost their top-two hopes in the Nations League.
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