La Liga leaders Barcelona stumbled 1-0 at home against Leganes on Sunday as they suffered another blow in the Spanish title race.
Diego Simeone's side have been in fine form and continued their winning run across all competitions with a deserved home triumph, pulling provisionally level with league leaders Barcelona.
Real missed the chance to move above leaders Barcelona in LaLiga as they stay second on 37 points from 17 matches, one behind the Catalans who host Leganes on Sunday when Atletico, in third place on 35 from 16 games, welcome Getafe.
The 23-year-old was forced off with a muscle injury in their 4-0 thrashing of Osasuna at the Bernabeu earlier in November
"We changed the position of the forwards, with Mbappe outside and he did well, like Vinicius inside," said Ancelotti.
Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski's goals put the Catalans in a healthy position but Marc Casado's red card in the 82nd minute helped Celta start the fightback to snatch a point.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Friday he would ask his players if they can win without injured teenage winger Lamine Yamal.
Lewandowski's early disallowed strike led to furious debate over whether the Polish forward had been offside or not.
Hammered by Barcelona in a league Clasico and then outplayed by AC Milan in the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti's side badly needed this confidence-boosting victory.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said he will quit his "cruel and unpleasant" job at the end of the season after his struggling team were beaten 5-3 by Villarreal on Saturday in La Liga.
After Real Madrid scraped a controversial 3-2 win over bottom side Almeria and a treble by Ferran Torres helped Barca win 4-2 at Real Betis, Girona demonstrated their title credentials
Under-pressure Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said on Wednesday he would resign if his squad no longer believed in him following last weekend's heavy Spanish Super Cup final loss to Real Madrid.
"Guler performed well for an hour. It was important for him to get used to playing with the team," Ancelotti told reporters.
Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham is the best player in the world, his coach Carlo Ancelotti said Friday.
Girona coach Michel Sanchez insisted his team cannot keep up with La Liga leaders Real Madrid despite their stunning 4-3 win over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday to pull level in first place.
Shock Spanish title challengers Girona snatched a remarkable 4-3 victory over Atletico Madrid to keep pace with Real Madrid at the top of La Liga on Wednesday.
Who would win LaLiga 2023-24?
Defender Vazquez headed home to lift Madrid above Girona to the number one spot after this season's surprise packages were held to a 1-1 draw at Real Betis earlier in the day.
Xavi Hernandez's side ended 2023 with a win thanks to Sergi Roberto's double and a first-half goal from Raphinha.
