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Carlo Ancelotti praises Kylian Mbappe despite Real Madrid failing to 'work hard' in Spanish Super Cup loss to Barcelona

Published 13/01/2025 at 08:48 GMT

Carlo Ancelotti was critical of his Real Madrid side after they suffered a convincing 5-2 defeat to 10-man Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday. The two sides clashed in Jeddah and the Liga champions were in the driving seat when Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring in style five minutes in. But a first-half Barca flurry sunk Ancelotti's side to an unassailable deficit.

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Carlo Ancelotti lamented Real Madrid's performance in their stunning 5-2 Spanish Super Cup defeat to Clasico rivals Barcelona, but singled out Kylian Mbappe for praise.

The former Paris Saint-Germain forward opened the scoring in Jeddah inside five minutes, capping off a spectacular fine solo effort with a smart finish, but saw his side 4-1 down by the half-time break as the Liga champions succumbed to swathes of pressure.

Raphinha made it 5-1 shortly after the interval, and Real could not make their numerical advantage count when Wojciech Szczesny was sent off before the hour - Rodrygo grabbing just one consolation for Ancelotti's side.

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And the Italian boss was critical of his side's defensive efforts in the Saudi showdown.

"We have to look at the reality. We didn't defend well," Ancelotti said in his post-match press conference.

"We tried to press high and defend with a low block. They scored the goals easily, and we didn't work hard, collectively or individually.

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"We lost a lot of duels. That makes us sad and disappointed, but that's football. We have to take that sadness home. I understand the sadness of our fans.

"We feel that, but we have to look forward, and prepare for the next game, and recover the good form we'd been in."

Ancelotti added: "I won't name anyone, I'm talking about the whole team. We didn't defend well, we weren't compact, and we have to defend better.

"We had an extra man [after Szczesny's red card] and we couldn't find solutions. But that doesn't hurt more, I'm sad about the game as a whole."

Ancelotti went on to say that his side should "forget" about the performance, with exception to the fine performance of Mbappe.

"I'd focus on Mbappe, who had a very good game," Ancelotti said. "It was a great move to score the goal. But the rest we should forget about, and look forward."

Luka Modric, meanwhile, shared a similar sentiment and expressed his sorrow to the club's supporters.

But the midfielder said of all the trophies his side are contending for this season, the Super Cup was the least meaningful.

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"I'm sure we're going to react after this tough defeat," Modric told reporters. "We didn't expect to lose like that, but it's football.

"We're sorry to the fans. We have to keep going, stay united, there's a lot of season left... You can't always win. If you have to lose a trophy, we'd prefer it to be this one.

"We have to congratulate Barcelona, they played a very good game, they were better and that's all. We have to improve and correct our mistakes."

Ancelotti's side return to action at home to Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey round of 16 on Thursday.

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