Carlo Ancelotti has criticized Real Madrid’s defending and expressed his disappointment with the entire game after they were beaten 5-2 by Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final.
In the first half, Barca scored through Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Alejandro Balde to lead 4-1 at half-time in Jeddah, despite Kylian Mbappe’s scintillating fifth-minute opener being considered a positive by Ancelotti, a two-time Super Cup winner.
“We should try to play football, because we didn’t do that in the first half,” Ancelotti told Movistar, via AS, when asked about his half-time team talk. “We took advantage of long balls but that should have been an option, not the idea. The idea was to play and we didn’t do that. I said we could lose, but not like the first half.”
Madrid vs Barcelona
After Raphinha made it 4-1 in the 48th minute, Madrid received a boost as Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was shown a red card for impeding Mbappe eight minutes later. However, Rodrygo’s free-kick in the 60th minute was the extent of the European champions’ comeback, with Barcelona avenging their previous defeat in the final.
“We have to face reality,” Ancelotti stated. “We didn’t defend well. They scored easily, and we lacked both collective and individual effort. Our fans, along with myself, are upset. I don’t want to blame anyone; we lacked defensive cohesion. The game was poor from start to finish, even with an extra man. I’m disappointed with how the entire game unfolded.”
La Liga: Madrid fixtures
As reigning Spanish champions, Madrid currently sit five points ahead of Barcelona in second place in La Liga, with leaders Atletico Madrid one point further ahead.
Next, they will face Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey round of 16 on Thursday at 8:30 pm, followed by a league match against Las Palmas on Sunday at 3:15 pm.
“There is still a lot of season left, so we need to remain positive,” Ancelotti added. “We will head home, reflect, and prepare for Thursday’s game.”
