Ancelotti fumes after Madrid ´did not play football´ in Supercopa thrashing – Soccer News

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Carlo Ancelotti slammed Real Madrid’s display in their 5-2 thrashing against Barcelona in the Supercopa de Espana final, claiming his team “did not play football.”

Ancelotti watched on as his side were well-beaten by their Clasico rivals, despite Kylian Mbappe putting Los Blancos into a fifth minute lead at King Abdullah Sports City.

Raphinha’s brace was followed up by goals from Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Alejandro Balde, with Rodrygo netting a consolation from a free-kick.

Los Blancos played more than half an hour with an extra man after Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was handed his marching orders for a challenge on Mbappe.

But the damage had already been done by Barca’s ruthless first-half showing, with Hansi Flick leading the Blaugrana to a record-extending 15th Supercopa title.

Ancelotti’s side posted more shots (19) than Barca (14) during the contest, but ended the encounter with an expected goals (xG) total of just 1.76 to their opponents’ 2.41.

Barcelona have now scored nine goals in their last two Clasicos against Madrid, more than they had managed in their previous six meetings in all competitions.

Ahead of kick-off, Ancelotti aimed to avenge Los Blancos’ 4-0 defeat to their rivals in LaLiga back in October, but was left feeling equally embarrassed at full-time.

“We defended badly, this hurt us in the game, they found the goals in a simple way, and we didn’t defend well in the high press or in the low block,” Ancelotti added.

“At half-time, I said that first we had to try to play football because in the first half we didn’t play football, we hit long balls, but that wasn’t the idea.

“The idea was to play, and we didn’t play. I told them that they can lose games, but not in the way we played in the first half.

“It was a bad night. We are sad like our fans. It is a disappointment, we must not hide it, but this is football,” Ancelotti said shortly after the game.

“Sometimes you are able to win, and sometimes you have to learn from defeat. We have to look forward. There is no more. We just have to look forward.”

Madrid will be hoping to overcome their Supercopa defeat when they return to action next Thursday in the Copa del Rey against Celta Vigo for a place in the quarter-finals.