Spanish Super Cup – “I had trouble sleeping”: for Real, the title will come through a revenge against Barcelona

It was a result that had the effect of an earthquake on the football world. In October, Barça won 4-0 in the Clasico, at Santiago Bernabeu, excuse me. This score and the performance of the Blaugranas then marked Hansi Flick’s mark in his new club. This Sunday evening, the two biggest Spanish clubs meet in the final of the Spanish Super Cup, in an enticing match. The dynamics are no longer the same, nor are the issues. And there is no doubt that Real will want to wash away the insult.

Obviously, to take revenge, we must analyze the reasons for the debacle. Present at a press conference this Saturday, Carlo Ancelotti, the Merengue coach, indicated that he had worked on this aspect. “We made a pretty clear analysis. We started well, but we went down in the second half. We have to avoid the mistakes we made.”warned the 65-year-old Italian. His midfielder, Federico Valverde, said nothing else. “We thought we could win, especially in the first half, because we had a chance to score, but we weren’t good.”

The Uruguayan also took this slap inflicted by the Barcelona players very badly. “I had trouble sleeping. Nobody expected such a result. It was hard to take because we wanted to have a great match”admitted Federico Valverde. It must be said that in this match, the Barcelonans did everything necessary, while still being successful. Everything settled in the second half with a double from Robert Lewandowski and goals from Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, to complete the hefty bill paid by the Madrilenians in front of their home crowd.

Since October 26, the dynamics have radically changed. Real is now leader with five points ahead of its great rival, who is only third. Mired in a crisis of results in the league with only one victory in the last five meetings, Barça could take advantage of this final in Saudi Arabia to relaunch a positive dynamic. These Clasicos are always special events and it’s not Pedri who will say the opposite. “We don’t need to ask for extra motivation before playing Real Madrid. The La Masia players have always lived for these kinds of matches”indicated the midfielder trained in Las Palmas.

At the heart of the questions about this meeting, if we compare it to the one which took place in the championship, only one man: Kylian Mbappé. The French striker, who was experiencing his first Clasico, was mystified by a surgical Barcelona defense. He was caught in an offside position eight times, including two disallowed goals, for a total of twelve offsides on the Madrid side that evening. It was also the first time that he was really taken aback by the press and the Madrid supporters. For him, this final is an opportunity to show that he is up to these essential meetings when you are part of Casa Blanca.

Especially since Hansi Flick confirmed that he did not intend to deny himself and repeat the same plan as on the first leg. “This is how we played in Madrid, we are not going to play differently”the German simply explained. In any case, this first occurrence is on everyone’s minds, starting with that of Pedri who is aware of the increased motivation of his opponents. “Repeating La Liga’s performance will be complicated. They want revenge, they’ve already said it”the Spanish international is wary.

As for Carlo Ancelotti, we are not making a big deal out of this match, in his usual phlegm. “In the event of a defeat, the season continues. I am aware that in football anything can happen, Barça has always played these kinds of matches, recalled the Italian, before recognizing the impact of failure. A defeat would not be good, but the team is not going backwards, it is moving forward.” Whoever wins, they will take a big step with peace of mind, because a title is never trivial. Even less when it’s Real Madrid – FC Barcelona.