Real Madrid’s 5-2 loss to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final has sparked more debate about coach Carlo Ancelotti’s long career.
Despite discussions between pundits and club supporters, several club resources – talking on condition of anonymity to shield relationships – were surprised and uncomfortable that the Italian’s position even a subject of conversation.
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A senior source argued that a team cannot play well or win, adding: “Qualifications are given in the spring,” suggesting it is now too early in the season to judge Ancelotti.
With the same firmness, the same resources have downplayed the influence that such a tough defeat against their rivals can have on Madrid’s technique ahead of the January transfer market. They insisted that Madrid works according to a plan and reacts to defeats. or express criticism.
So that’s good and bad news for Ancelotti: his job seems secure but he won’t be getting major reinforcements during this transfer window. The only outlier would be if Liverpool were to agree to sell Trent Alexander-Arnold in the coming weeks.
Concerns about Madrid’s defence were evident in the team’s performance in Jeddah. They were in disarray as Lamine Yamal and Raphinha wreaked havoc, helping Barcelona from Kylian Mbappe’s opener lead 4-1 at half-time.
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“I said it before the game: ‘We have to protect to win this game,'” Ancelotti said after the game. “We protected poorly and Barcelona protected more and won. “
When Mbappé gave Madrid the lead after five minutes, his third goal in three finals (UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup and Spanish Super Cup), few would have imagined they could finish the match on the side of this type of scoreline.
From that point on, it was a nightmare for Madrid, and that was reflected in the face of club president Florentino Perez when the television cameras panned to him in the stands on a number of occasions.
Some, inside and outside the club, say Perez deserves to have done more to bolster Madrid’s defense this summer.
However, it is Ancelotti who now bears the brunt of the complaints and has suffered two humiliating defeats to his main rivals this season, after losing 4-0 at home in La Liga in October.
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Sunday’s match is reminiscent of the 2023 Spanish Super Cup final, almost two years ago, when Madrid were swept by Barcelona and their comfort goal in a 3-1 win scored by Karim Benzema in the last minute of extra time.
In Jeddah, Madrid could have gone ahead twice before Mbappé made it 1-0 in the 5th minute. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made two early saves, first from Yamal and then from a Raphina header after the Brazilian had escaped through Aurélien Tchouameni (a central midfielder who opted for the center back) and the shaky Lucas Vázquez.
Ancelotti’s team began to crumble in the 21st minute, brought down by Yamal. The 17-year-old received a pass from Robert Lewandowski after Antonio Rudiger got stuck at the top of the pitch. Ferland Mendy was not up to Yamal’s level on a run and headed towards the Madrid area, sold Tchouameni with a shoulder and then fired a shot past Courtois into the right back corner.
Barcelona then took the lead after a clumsy tackle by Eduardo Camavinga on Gavi. Lewandowski scored the penalty and the faces of Madrid counted on it. They were worried.
In the 39th minute, Raphinha added the third, sliding between Tchouameni and Vázquez to meet a headed cross. This time, Courtois was not up to the task and the ball found the back left corner of the net.
Then, at the end of first-half stoppage time, Alejandro Balde made it 4-1 as Barcelona took advantage of Rodrygo’s sloppy play. The left-back combined perfectly with Raphinha on the counter, sliding the ball past Courtois.
Madrid went in at the break having had 34 per cent possession and having allowed Barcelona 13 shots at goal, seven of them on target — the most in a first half against Madrid in the last 11 seasons, according to Opta.
Three minutes into the second half, it was the same story: Madrid experiencing more trouble down their right-hand side with Vazquez and Tchouameni. With Vazquez still in an attacking position, Tchouameni wasn’t fast enough to cover the right-back area and was toyed with by Raphinha, who also outwitted Rudiger by cutting onto his left foot and then shooting into the far corner.
“The performances of Lucas (Vázquez) and Tchouameni? I don’t want to call anyone out. I’m talking about the team,” Ancelotti said when asked about the couple.
Minutes after Barcelona’s fifth goal, Ancelotti replaced Vazquez with Raul Asencio, the academy centre-back who some believe deserves to be used more by Ancelotti after a couple of games rigged last year. Federico Valverde has taken Vázquez’s place and the captain’s armband. The coach, although he tried to avoid it, replaced his most important midfielder with a right-back, as he did at the end of 2024 when Madrid were suffering from injuries.
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And that is why Madrid needs Alexander-Arnold, as a source from their Valdebebas center told The Athletic: “Without a right back it is winning the Champions League. “
Alongside Asencio, Tchouameni returned to midfield, but he had little impact in his favourite position and it wasn’t long before he was replaced by Luka Modric. Some in the dressing room have lost confidence in the France international, while others point out that he plays in an unfamiliar position.
Madrid clearly have issues in defence, both short and long term, and many players have been linked with them in recent months. One is the Al Nassr and Spain centre-back Aymeric Laporte, who watched the game at the stadium in Jeddah, but a move for him was understood to be financially difficult. Another is Vitor Reis, the 19-year-old Brazilian centre-back at Palmeiras who is of interest to Manchester City, but there are some doubts at Madrid about his ability to defend out wide and Palmeiras have insisted Reis could only leave after this summer’s Club World Cup.
Although Ancelotti insists internally on the need for reinforcements, the club is measuring itself against spending and does not make any big moves in the January market. In a press conference in recent weeks, Ancelotti has not closed the door to arrivals this month, while in the afterlife he was more aligned with the club.
Important people at Madrid have agreed with him that a right-back and centre-back must be signed, either now or in the summer, but the fact that others are on the same page as him does not mean that the club will go out and spend — as their quietness in this window shows.
When the final whistle blew, it was clear Madrid did not want to stay in the stadium a minute longer than they had to while their rivals celebrated a big win. Perez, in a rare exchange caught on camera, turned to his captain Modric and said: “We have to lose a final some time, don’t we?”
Madrid will return from Saudi Arabia worried about a brutal defeat against Barcelona, but the alarm bells are still ringing. Prior to this match, they had won seven and drawn one of their last 8 matches in all competitions.
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After being thumped in the Clasico in October, there were disappointing results against Milan, Liverpool and Athletic Club. They will hope for a sharper reaction this time, starting in the Copa del Rey on Thursday against Celta Vigo.
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(Top photo: Ismael Adnan Yaqoob/Anadolu via Getty Images)