Carlo Ancelotti has said Real Madrid made a “clear assessment” of their first Clasico defeat of the season to Barcelona, ahead of this Sunday’s Supercopa de Espana final.
Madrid slumped to a four-goal home defeat to Hansi Flick in October’s La Liga match, with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice and Lamine Yamal and Raphinha also finding the net.
That match had been scoreless at half-time but Barca were rampant in the second half, preceding the Catalan side’s slump in form — a run of just five points in their last seven league matches has left them third in the standings, five points behind Madrid.
“We have to think about what happened in the first game we played because they beat us,” Ancelotti said on Saturday.
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“We made a pretty clear assessment of what happened: we started well but had problems in the second half. We will obviously try to repeat the good things and avoid the mistakes.
“A Clasico is always a Clasico and there is more pressure when it’s a final. Playing a final against Barcelona is always something special.”
Ancelotti was also asked about his side being caught offside 12 times in the match against Barca: “Yes, it’s an important aspect of the game that we looked at and we have to evaluate and counteract.”
Madrid progressed to Sunday’s final after beating Real Mallorca 3-0 on Thursday, a day after Barca booked their place with a two-goal victory over Athletic Club.
Ancelotti’s side won last year’s title with a 4-1 final victory over Barcelona, a game in which Vinicius Junior scored a hat-trick.
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(Christopher Lee – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
