Carlo Ancelotti has criticised Real Madrid’s defending and said he is “upset by the whole game” after they were hammered 5-2 by Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final.
Two-time Super Cup winner Ancelotti considered Kylian Mbappe’s performance a positive after the striker scored a scintillating fifth-minute opener, but Barca scored through Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Alejandro Balde to lead 4-1 at half-time in Jeddah.
“We should try to play football, because we didn’t do that in the first half,” Ancelotti told Movistar, via AS, when he was asked what he had said to his players at the interval.
“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.”
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Madrid vs Barcelona
After Raphinha made it 4-1 in the 48th minute, Madrid were given a much-needed boost when Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was shown a straight red card eight minutes later for impeding Mbappe.
Rodrygo’s reply from a 60th-minute free-kick was as far as the European champions’ comeback went, with Barca avenging their 4-1 defeat in last season’s final.
“We have to look at reality,” said Ancelotti. “We didn’t defend well. They scored goals very easily. We didn’t work well on a collective or individual level.
“It leaves us sad and disappointed. Our sadness is that of our fans. I don’t want to point the finger at anyone. They didn’t defend well at the back. The team wasn’t compact.
“The game was not good from the first minute to the last. We were up a man and we couldn’t create any chances. I’m upset about the whole game.”
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La Liga: Madrid fixtures
Reigning Spanish champions Madrid are five points in front of Barcelona in second in La Liga, with leaders Atletico Madrid a point further ahead.
The Champions League holders are at home to Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey round of 16 on Thursday (8.30pm) and host 14th-placed Las Palmas in the league on Sunday (3.15pm).
“There is still a lot of season left and we have to look forward,” said Ancelotti. “[We will] go home, think and prepare for Thursday’s game.”
