Real Madrid have made a ‘clear assessment’ of their first Clásico defeat to Barcelona – Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti said Real Madrid had made a “clear assessment” of their first Clásico loss of the season to Barcelona ahead of Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup final.
Real Madrid suffered a four-goal defeat at home to Hansi Flick in a Spanish League match in October, with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice and Lamine Yamal and Rafinha also scoring.
That match was goalless in the first half, but Barcelona were rampant in the second half, before the Catalans’ form slumped – a run of just five points in their last seven league games has left them third in the standings, five points behind Madrid. .
“We have to think about what happened in the first match we played because they beat us,” Ancelotti said on Saturday.
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“We made a clear assessment of what happened: we started well but had problems in the second half. Obviously we will try to repeat the good things and avoid mistakes.
“A Clásico is always a Clásico and there is more pressure when it is a final. Playing in the final against Barcelona is always something special.”
Ancelotti was also asked about his team being offside 12 times in the match against Barcelona: “Yes, it is an important aspect of the game that we looked at and we have to evaluate and address it.”
Real Madrid qualified for the final match on Sunday after defeating Real Mallorca 3-0 on Thursday, one day after Barcelona booked its place with a two-goal win over Athletic Bilbao.
Ancelotti’s side won last year’s title with a 4-1 final victory over Barcelona, a match in which Vinicius Junior scored a hat-trick.
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(Christopher Lee – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
