Carlo Ancelotti Is Of The Opinion That It Was An Even Match Despite Claims Of Barca’s Dominance By Xavi

Written By Onyeka Daniel

Real Madrid needed an extra-time goal to beat their arch rival, Barcelona in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup that was played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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It ended 2-2 after 90 minutes as Ansu Fati nodded in a cross late on to take the game into extra time before Uruguayan midfielder, Federico Valverde stepped up with the winning goal in extra time to prevent the match from being decided by penalty.

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For majority of the match, Barcelona had much of the ball but were less threatening while Madrid had the better chances and took them to advance to the final. Speaking in the post-match conference, Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti had these to say,

“I think the team is prepared for this type of match. It was going to be a very even match. We were very effective at the start and on the counter. We failed to concede goals due to fatigue. The counter-attack was very effective. Good image of Spanish soccer. Barcelona played well and the match was very even.

“They caused us problems in the crosses, something they don’t usually do”. He refused to accept that Barcelona were superior to his team despite having the ball for a larger spell during the game and claims by Barcelona coach that his team was superior.

“I don’t agree. It was an even match. The first half we conceded a goal due to bad luck. The second half was more even. Nobody dominated. We went down to use the counter. The three goals were spectacular. It’s more difficult for us to press forward and that’s why we used the counter-attack more”.

Meanwhile…

Barcelona coach, Xavi Hernandez, was full of praises for his team and their efforts despite their loss to the Los Blancos. “We can be proud of the game we played”. Today is a day to have high morale, even though in the end we lost. We played a full 90 minutes”.

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“Madrid’s transitions were our losses. We were superior to them in many moments. We can’t have high morale because we lost. It’s a very important turning point”. “We dominated many phases, we played with some complexes. Because of our mistakes of not stopping counterattacks, which we had discussed.

“They took advantage of our mistakes. We leave with pride, but certainly sad about the result”. “I have no complaints about the players, because of their commitment. They all want to play and some of them are very young and we have to stop them.

But it’s about time we get results. We recovered people and now it is more difficult to make the lineup. He further added.

The Spaniard is of the opinion that the difference between the two teams is not that much again, unlike at the start of the season. “If we talk about today, we are close. In the league we are 17 points behind. Today we competed. If we flip a coin and we go through, nothing happens. We aso deserved to go through to the final. We are on the right track”.

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