Ancelotti declares Saudi Arabia Supercup positive for Spanish football

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has praised the hosting of the Spanish Supercup in Saudi Arabia, thousands of kilometres away from Spain, with few local fans able to attend the match. He has also slowed talk of David Alaba’s return, after he was included in Real Madrid’s squad for the competition.

Ancelotti feels that it allows fans in Saudi Arabia to show their love for the teams, although RCD Mallorca and Athletic Club have been feeling less warmth than they might elsewhere.

“Having the competition here is good for Spanish football. Firstly for the teams that play here because they have the opportunity to receive the support of all the fans they have here,” he noted.

He was also asked about a statement he had made two seasons ago about his side’s attitude, and one of their virtues being that they do not think themselves the most beautiful. Is that still hte case?

“Sometimes it happens that we think we are the most beautiful. Not just the players, a bit of everyone. The team has got a good dynamic going. I think it is an important competition. It is the first competition of the year. It has brought us a lot of motivation in the past, as it did in 2022. We hope of this Super Cup that brings us motivation and commitment.”

Alaba was included in the Real Madrid squad for the first time in over a year after recovering from multiple knee surgeries. Having previously declared their game against Las Palmas on the 19th of January as a possible return date.

“Alaba is very good, we are very close to seeing him… and tomorrow I don’t know, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”

The registration, or lack of, Dani Olmo and Pau Victor at Barcelona has dominated the headlines in Spain this week, but Ancelotti refused to weigh in on the topic.

“I can only talk to you about the match between Barcelona and Athletic. I don’t want to talk about the subject of Olmo and Pau Victor.”

The Spanish Football Federation earns around €40m per year from the Spanish Supercup games, half of which is distributed to the clubs, albeit unevenly and in the favour of Barcelona and Real Madrid – both of which donated €200k of their more than €4m to RCD Mallorca to take their total to €1.2m. The other half of the money goes into the Federation to fund grassroots football.