Carlo Ancelotti spoke in the press room at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh after Real Madrid booked their place in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. Real Madrid managed to take the victory but penalty kicks were needed to achieve this. While the performance was decent and there were a couple of chances, Madrid still has not reached the top form and the coach knows this. The Italian was pleased with the performance but stated that the team still needs to improve and will surely do that but everything will come gradually.
He expressed himself as follows: "It was a tough and hard-fought match. There are no matches at this level that aren't tough. We made a clear mistake at the start of the second half, and we made it difficult for ourselves. The first half was fine, and so was the end of the game. The opposition defended well and created problems for us on the counterattack. We're pleased. We need to improve gradually, but we did a good job. We weren't great at several points in the game, but we stayed in it".
Fitness: “We didn't have fitness problems because we did better in the final period. We tried to score in extra-time and avoid penalties. We're not at our best because there are players who only returned recently after the World Cup. We have to improve in terms of fitness. We were affected by the injuries to Camavinga and Lucas Vázquez and we brought on players who were pushing the limit, like Mendy and Carvajal. The important thing is that we’ve reached the final”.
The attack for Valencia’s goal: “The block was compact during the match. We tried to remain compact. The move was an individual one and the mistake was a collective one. The players close to the ball didn't press and the central defensive reading wasn't great”.
Injuries against Valencia: “Camavinga had a knock on his knee, Lucas Vázquez sprained his ankle and Militão felt dizzy. Militão is fine because I've spoken to him. We have to evaluate Camavinga and Lucas Vázquez seems to have the most serious injury”.
Chance to win the trophy: “We wanted to reach the final. We do well in the finals and we'll see what happens. This is a different situation to last year. We're going to fight flat out to win the Super Cup”. On Sunday we’ll have a competitive defence. Carvajal and Mendy have shown that they‘ve got over their injuries. We just have to evaluate Lucas Vázquez and Militão”.
Opponents: "Our opponents are on form at the moment and we’ll have to suffer. Every match is complicated. Our opponents are well organised and it's always hard, but the important thing is to win.
Penalty Shoot-out: "I chose the three with the most experience to go first, the coolest. Karim, Modric, Kroos, Asensio and the last one was Vinicius. Thank goodness he didn't take it (laughs)".
Physical Condition Post World Cup: "The level of the team is not at its best because this season‘s been unusual due to the World Cup. It's normal that 20 days after the World Cup the players aren’t at their best level.”
Supporters: "I want to thank them for the atmosphere. It felt like we were playing at home and we really enjoyed it. We all celebrated the victory together and now we're going for the final.”
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